Meursault's Life

Meursault’s life is basically the same until he makes a bad decision that impacts him forever. The story begins with Meursault attending his mother’s funeral. Following his mother's death, Meursault acts normal, and he goes to the beach with Raymond and Marie, at the beach him and Raymond gets into an altercation with a Arab. After Raymond leaves, Meursault goes back to where the Arab was at and shoots the Arab. In Camus’ book, The Stranger, Camus shows that humans will eventually meet death, and that humans lives doesn’t have any meaning. Meursault comes to this realization throughout the novel but he doesn’t fully understand it until speaking with the chaplain at the end of the book.
Before Meursault killed the Arab, his life was the same
and he went through the same cycle everyday which is an example of absurdism. “Nothing, nothing had the least importance and I knew quite well why. He, too, knew why. From the dark horizon of my future a sort of slow, persistent breeze had been blowing toward me, all my life long, from the years that were to come”. This quote explains how nothing meant anything to Meursault and his future was already planned so I guess you could say it was fate. Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus and this book closely together, so the Myth of Sisyphus impacted the decisions of Meursault and others characters in the book.
Another example of absurdism within the book was Salamano’s relationship with his dog. Salamano had his dog for 8 years and even though he mistreated and misused him, when he went missing he was sad. The relationship between Salamano and the dog is parallel to the relationship with Meursault and his mother. In a way, the dog reminded Meursault of his mother which is a symbol for dead or lost. Meursault doesn’t think much of death because everyone dies. As the book progresses, he comes to the conclusion that all lives are equally meaningless which might be a reason why he wasn’t affected by his mother’s death.
Meursault rejects the chaplain's plea, telling him that he doesn’t have any interest in God. He wants to continue to believe in the assurance of life, even if his only assurance is the death that awaits him. Meursault perfectly exemplifies the absurd because he sees everyone’s live as equally meaningless and death is seen in an external and detached way. by Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus. Meursault refuses to be like other people, and he asserts his freedom by doing whatever he thinks is right within any given moment. Our fate is predestined just like Meursault’s was, and we can’t change it.
In conclusion, Meursault doesn’t fully understand the idea that humans lives doesn’t really any meaning to them until the end of the book when he was talking to the chaplain. Meursault receives the death sentence and wonders what his life would be like if he choose a different path and if he didn’t kill the arab. Even though, Meursault wonders what his life would be like if he didn’t kill the Arab, he says he wouldn’t change anything. Meursault character traits personifies throughout the book and Camus absurdism affects his decisions.