The Stranger by Albert Camus is a novel concerning the absurdist philosophy of the main character, Meursault, who inevitably becomes the ‘other’. Camus was known as one of the biggest players in existentialism and absurdism, however, he denied those titles for the majority of his lifetime, even that of being a philosopher. Instead, he pursued a political voice on the Cold War, rejecting both communism and capitalism. Regardless, his literature continued to portray him as a modern philosopher, posing some of the biggest existentialist and absurdist questions of our lifetime. The book was published in 1942 and written in French- setting in French-colonized Algeria. The novel is blunt in it’s language and rather absent in message until the last few pages. Meursault is consumed with ideas of absurdism, a philosophical principle that states that humans exist in a meaningless and purposeless world. He is viewed differently in the eyes of society under a negative connotation, especially when he commits a murder of an Arab. The victim is constantly referred to as an ‘Arab’ due to the racist ideologies at the time. Because of his beliefs on life, regular contributing members of society suspected that he was not on the same mental wavelength as they were. The historical context, social circumstances, and philosophies he worshipped played a large role in the way Meursault was viewed and the consequences he endured towards the story’s conclusion as the “other ”.

The novel begins in the 1940’s with the death of Meursault’s mother. Meursault describes how he is unable to remember the exact day she died, showing a discreet indifference to the passing of a loved one, as seen in this quote, “Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure” (Camus, par. 1). The lack of effort he puts into knowing the exact date of such a significant person’s passing already establishes his ‘meaningless’ philosophy. The strangeness of his character begins with this event because when Meursault goes to visit his deceased mother, he does not want to see the body, nor does he shed a single tear. When he arrives to the nursery home, he is not familiar with a single person there, one of them supposedly being his mother’s lover. People began to look at him abnormally, as seen in these lines, “While he was going up to the coffin I told him not to trouble. “Eh? What’s that?” he exclaimed. “You don’t want me to …?” “No,” I said. He put back the screwdriver in his pocket and stared at me. I realized then that I shouldn’t have said, “No,” and it made me rather embarrassed. After eying me for some moments he asked: “Why not?” But he didn’t sound reproachful; he simply wanted to know. “Well, really I couldn’t say,” I answered” (Camus, para. 21-22). This shows the disconnect he had with his family, not even caring to see the body. When it comes time to bury his mother, he goes outside into the scorching sun, where the first signs of genuine emotion appear. The audience discovers that the only thing that deeply affects Meursault is the heat. The sun, an indifferent object to human activities on Earth, is what makes Meursault react even though he is an indifferent person. Regardless of his mother’s passing, Meursault only pays attention to the heat, which seems to severely bother him, even in the process of burying his mother. This again, makes him look different and isolated since the only sign of distress he shows and cares about is towards the sun, and not his mother’s death. This is the first introduction to a common theme throughout the book, proving that, despite his pessimistic philosophy, Meursault feels a degree of emotion, even if it is negative. His absurdist philosophy, showing that nothing truly matters, is heavily exhibited in this circumstance, since he believes that death is inevitable. This, of course, makes him the ‘other’ in the eyes of society. Any mentally and emotionally stable person would agree that this is an abnormal reaction to have to a close one’s passing, especially when having deep connections with people. The glares and stares he receives already introduces the concept of his isolation and misunderstanding on the objective perspectives of life and basic emotion. It shows that he does not develop connections with people, nor does he cope with anything to begin with, since he believes nothing truly matters. It is seen, however, that Meursault acknowledges that his reactions and emotions are inappropriate, such as the feeling of embarrassment. Nevertheless, his philosophy towards his mother’s death contributes to him being viewed as the ‘other’.

Throughout the progression of the novel, Meursault’s heat phobia intensified , causing him to commit a murder for a ‘friend’. Meursault had a ‘friend’ named Raymond, who also wasn’t the most ethnically clean or socially accepted, as seen in these lines, “The general idea hereabouts is that he’s a pimp. But if you ask him what his job is, he says he’s a warehouseman. One thing’s sure: he isn’t popular in our street” (Camus, part 3. Para. 8). He did not necessarily consider Raymond a friend, since he had no real concepts of what having relationships with people was like. Raymond consistently abused his ex-girlfriend, who was the sibling of two Arabian men. These men then continued to pursue Raymond in attempts to scare him off and warn him to cease his abuse towards their sister. Because Meursault lived in the same building as Raymond, he ended up getting followed too. Within the context of the book, the two men were referred to as, “arabs,” due to the racist ideals of the French who had colonized Algeria. The arabs followed the men on the beach in the middle of a hot summer day, frightening Raymond, prompting him to give his emergency gun to Meursault. When confrontation occurred, the sun and heat severely disturbed Meursault, triggering him to kill one of the arabs. This is evident in these lines, “The heat was beginning to scorch my cheeks; beads of sweat were gathering in my eyebrows. It was just the same sort of heat as at my mother’s funeral, and I had the same disagreeable sensations—especially in my forehead, where all the veins seemed to be bursting through the skin. I couldn’t stand it any longer, and took another step forward” (Camus pg.38, para. 4). This is a pivotal point within the book since his philosophy of nothing mattering and the indifference of taking another person’s life since death will happen to everyone, led him to committing a murder. Afterwards, he admitted to being the murderer and was sent into the judicial processing system of Algeria. He yet again, showed indifference to what he had done, which was the deciding factor for the jury to convict him and give him the death penalty.

Awaiting his death, a clerk attempts to convince Meursault to repent for his sins in the eyes of God, which is ineffective and turns to anger. Meursault completely rejects any signs of God or  ultimate being because he is consistent on his views that life should be seen through the perspective of death. As hours pass and his execution approaches, he begins to dwell on the things in his life that could have actually mattered . He understands that life is actually the most precious thing and should be valued. At this point, for Meursault, it is far too late.

Meursault’s mother’s death is significant in showing that he is the “other” character based on society’s ethics and reactions towards him. “It is evident that he is almost totally unaffected by his mother’s death as nothing changes in his life.  In other words, her death has little or no real significance for him” (Gullette par. 2). This quote shows how it affects Meursault, and in society’s standpoints, this is seen as abnormal . Meursault describes the kinds of stares and things that were said about him, especially when he arrives to the nursery home . His mother’s associates found it rather  strange and evil, to some respect, that he was not crying and refused to see the body. They continually speculated on who he was and what his affairs were, since nothing was truly known of him. The murder of the Arab was also a very significant point, since his indifference and lack of remorse is what got the jury to convict him to the death penalty. His meaningless attitude towards life and death is what put him into the position of being a murderer, which societally and legally speaking, is not allowed under any circumstances .

The heat from the sun is what pushed him towards his breaking point. He attempted to explain this phenomena, but to most people, the heat is not an excuse to commit an such a severe crime. Because of this views, he was essentially an “outsider” and exempt from the rest of society.

 

…. Add more information about Camus, use quotes to demonstrate tone and exact language of Meursault, and others. Begin with a synopsis, then hone in on these pivotal moments of him being an ‘other’ to his philosophy. Add more about Meursault’s philosophy and why he’s emotionless. What does his ‘emotionlessness’ say about his psyche? What are the normal expectations and why? Why does this say about the conflict btwn. philosophical commitment/norms/mental illness. What impact does the ‘other’ have on Meursault? Is that a good or bad thing to the text? What about to you?

 

MISCELLANEOUS:

Meursault’s ideals are what lead him to receive the death penalty for a murder he committed. His lack of empathy for the man’s life he took was essentially the deciding factor in his conviction.

 

His ideology is that, since we are all meant to die, there is no meaning to anything.

However, when he is waiting for his death penalty, in the last two pages of the book, he realizes that life is incredibly precious and should not be taken advantage of. He has an interpretable revelation that changes his entire perspective and ceases his being of “other.”

 

More background info. on author, location, and historical relevance.

Clarify connection between the heat and the murder. It seems unrelated.

Show God and Death earlier within the paper, and be sure to add a bunch of quotes.

Quote–> show the things he is thinking about at this specific moment. It’s too big of a jump.

Do the characters believe he is abnormal or do you? Probably both.

Add quote.

What is “it”?

Check on verb tense.

Repetitive, alter.