Death and Absurdism in Camus's The Stranger
Death and Absurdism in Camus 's The Stranger Alan Gullette
In his novel The Stranger1, Albert Camus gives expression to his philosophy of the absurd. The novel is a first-person account of the life of M. Meursault from the time of his mother 's death up to a time evidently just before his execution for the murder of an Arab. The central theme is that the significance of human life is understood only in light of mortality, or the fact of death; and in showing Meursault 's consciousness change through the course of events, Camus shows how facing the possibility of death does have an effect on one 's perception of life.
The novel begins with the death of Meursault 's mother. Although he attends the funeral, he does not request to see the body, though he finds it interesting to think about the effects of heat and humidity on the rate of a body 's decay (8). It is evident that he is almost totally unaffected by his mother 's death – nothing changes in his life. In other words, her death has little or no real significance for him. When he hears Salamano, a neighbor, weeping over his lost dog (which has evidently died), Meursault thinks of his mother – but he is unaware of the association his mind has made. In fact, he chooses not to dwell on the matter but goes to sleep instead (50).
It is when he is on the beach with Raymond Sintès and M. Masson and they confront two Arabs (who have given Raymond trouble) that Meursault first seems to think about the insignificance of any action – therefore of human existence. He has a gun and it occurs to him that he could shoot or not shoot and that it would come to the same thing (72). The loss of a life would have no significance – no affect on life as a whole; and the universe itself is apparently totally indifferent to everything. Here he implicitly denies the existence of God, and thus denies morality, as well as the "external" meaning (if it may be so distinguished from the internal or individual
In his novel The Stranger1, Albert Camus gives expression to his philosophy of the absurd. The novel is a first-person account of the life of M. Meursault from the time of his mother 's death up to a time evidently just before his execution for the murder of an Arab. The central theme is that the significance of human life is understood only in light of mortality, or the fact of death; and in showing Meursault 's consciousness change through the course of events, Camus shows how facing the possibility of death does have an effect on one 's perception of life.
The novel begins with the death of Meursault 's mother. Although he attends the funeral, he does not request to see the body, though he finds it interesting to think about the effects of heat and humidity on the rate of a body 's decay (8). It is evident that he is almost totally unaffected by his mother 's death – nothing changes in his life. In other words, her death has little or no real significance for him. When he hears Salamano, a neighbor, weeping over his lost dog (which has evidently died), Meursault thinks of his mother – but he is unaware of the association his mind has made. In fact, he chooses not to dwell on the matter but goes to sleep instead (50).
It is when he is on the beach with Raymond Sintès and M. Masson and they confront two Arabs (who have given Raymond trouble) that Meursault first seems to think about the insignificance of any action – therefore of human existence. He has a gun and it occurs to him that he could shoot or not shoot and that it would come to the same thing (72). The loss of a life would have no significance – no affect on life as a whole; and the universe itself is apparently totally indifferent to everything. Here he implicitly denies the existence of God, and thus denies morality, as well as the "external" meaning (if it may be so distinguished from the internal or individual
Cited: Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International, 1989. In Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” the “story of an ordinary man who gets drawn into a senseless murder” is told. Taking place in Algeria this man, Meursault, is constantly in a climate of extreme warmth, as are all the inhabitants therein. The sun, the source of light and the cause of this warmth, is thus a vital and normal part of his life. It brings warmth and comfort yet it can also cause pain and sickness. Throughout most of his life Meursault has lived with the conflicting forces of the sun and light, as a friend and foe. However in Chapter 6 these forces become unbalanced and the sun becomes an aggressor causing Meurault physical pain and jolting him into violent action. Although the sun becomes increasingly aggressive as the novel transpires, in the beginning its forces were balanced causing some good and some bad effects. The most evidence of the sun as a foe is found during Meursault’s mother’s wake and funeral. During the wake Meursault is constantly “blinded” by the bright light. This combined with “the whiteness of the room” “[makes his] eyes hurt.” However, this same light also creates a “glare on the white walls….making [him] drowsy” and allowing him respite from the knowledge of his mother’s death. So, all at once light was good as well as bad for Meursault. Again, during the funeral “with the sun bearing down” the heat was “inhuman and oppressive,” causing Meursault great physical discomfort. Yet, in the same token, the heat is also “making it hard for [Meursault] to …think straight” thereby allowing him an escape from his mother’s death. Not all of the sun’s effects have a flip side however; throughout the novel “the sun [does Meursault] a lot of good,” by warming him and making him feel alive. Thus, although both positive and negative situations come from the...