Albert Camus Character Analysis

Many people in society can be considered by outsiders by society. These sorts of characters, along with being found in modern day society, are also found in all forms of media such as Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, Colonel Aureliano Buendia from One Hundred Years of Solitude, and even Doctor Gregory House from acclaimed television series House. These characters provide us with a fascinating viewpoint on how they view society and how they are able to interact with society as a result of this isolation and ostracism from society. Arguably one of the greatest examples of this isolated character challenged by society’s very moral center is the character of Meursault of Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Camus throughout The Stranger
An example of this can be taken from the very opening lines of the work in question. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” (Camus. 3) This shows that there could be many interpretations to the text that Camus lays out. Due to the fact that it is so monosyllabic and brief we are forced to make our own assertions about what Meursault’s character is and how we have to evaluate it seeing as it is in our social customs and norms that we weigh the words of the text against Meursault. This causes split between whether or not Meursault is viewed as a relatable hero or a cold person who never truly finds out what the meaning to the absurdity in life is. The first section of the book due to lack of society evaluating Meursault other than a few brief snippets of Meursault being judged, there is no way to determine Meursault's character and opinion about it using societal norms as basis for comparison. This causes us to put Meursault on trial as a society and have Meursault fight against yet another power he cannot see, that being the readers of The Stranger. The societal norms are what is challenging
Because of this the sobering reality of realizing that one must stay within certain boundaries of reality or get assimilated by society. It’s problematic when one cog in a machine does not function as the rest of them do, so one simply replaces that. It is an allegory for death so that when you die you may not be missed workload wise because someone will be there to take your place, and while seeming cold and mechanical it really stresses the inherent value to live everyday to the fullest. If the eventuality is death and since one does not know if there is anything after that, one should be able to be strange within the confines of social protocol and enjoy their life before it invariably