Essay The Stranger - 1275 Words

The Stranger In the book The Stranger, the main character, Meursault, is a stranger to himself, and to life. Meursault is a person who is emotionally and physically detached from the world. He seemingly cares only about himself, but at the same time could be concerned little about what happens to him. The title, the Stranger, could indicate Meursaults disconnection and indifference to the world that surrounds him and, therefore, his role as a stranger in the book. The title could also imply that he is simply a stranger to experiencing emotion and expressing feeling: that he is detached from himself and doesnt know what it means to be a human. Meursault show that is far more interested in the physical aspects of the world around†¦show more content†¦The sun on the beach torments Meursault, and during his trail he identifies his suffering under the sun as the reason he killed the Arab. Meursault is the only one who can understand his response to the situations described about and sees it as valid based on his commitment to live life as he sees it. In â€Å"The Stranger,† as in Existentialism, Meursault’s values are created by his own will rather than any innate human transcendental purpose. Existentialism is a belief that is centered on man’s freedom of choice and his responsibility for the consequences of his actions. But Meursault is a stranger to himself and his surroundings. He is detached from the world and does not make choices because of his refusal to do so, rather, he is unable to do so because he is detachment from the world. Indifference Meursault’s description of other people is entirely subjective. (Do I know the Objective) He does not attempt to portray them in neutral form or in a manor to understand their thoughts and feelings. Meursault is detached from the world and everything around him. Events that would be very significant for most people, such as a marriage proposal or a parent’s death, do not matter to Meursault, at least at a sentimental level. He does not care that Marie loves him. He does not car that his mother is deceased, which can be seen from an effort less means of not hiding lack of feeling over her death. Without displaying his indifference ofShow MoreRelatedThe Stranger1548 Words   |  7 PagesAlbert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that are considered rude and unpleasant, but because it has become common, society acce pts it as norms. Camus incorporates atrocious personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate through the creation of the characters. Camus demonstrates the disregarded reason behindRead MoreStranger2325 Words   |  10 PagesDiscussion Questions for The Stranger (1946); translated by Matthew Ward, 1988. Part One Chapter 1. 1. How does Camus set up Meursaults personality -- how does Meursault respond to others conversation, to ordinary social situations, and to the death of his mother? 2. On page 10, Meursault says that at the viewing of his mother, he felt as if the elderly people there were judging him. Offer a conjecture about why he might have had that feeling. (It is worth paying attention to such references toRead MoreThe Stranger Essay1048 Words   |  5 PagesAlbert Camus influential novel, The Stranger, a great work of existentialism, examines the absurdity of life and indifference of the world. This paper provides a summary of the novel, and outlines some of the novels main themes. The novels protagoinist, Meursault, is a distanced and indifferent young man. He does not believe in God, and lives his life with seemingly sensuous abandon. After Meursault is caught up in the life of a local pimp, he rather inexplicably murders a young man on theRead More The Stranger Essay879 Words   |  4 PagesThe Stranger The Stranger exhibits a society that has confined itself with a specific set of social standards that dictate the manner in which people are supposed to act. This ideology determines the level of morality, and how much emphasis should placed on following this certain ethical structure. Albert Camuss main character, Meursault, is depicted as a nonconformist that is unwilling to play societys game. Through Meursaults failure to comply with societys values and conform toRead MoreMetamorphosis And The Stranger1288 Words   |  6 Pagesexistence. The Metamorphosis, written by Kafka in 1915, follows a traveling salesman who struggles with his purpose in life. Similar to that story, Camus’s The Stranger, published in 1942, details the unnecessary undoing of an Algerian man who follows his own morals, not society’s morals. Within Kafka s The Metamorphosis and Camus s The Stranger, the characters isolation in society, illogical thoughts without real reasoning, and freedom to choose reflect the concept of Existentialism by illustratingRead MoreExistentialism In The Stranger1413 Words   |  6 PagesThe novel, The Stranger, written by French author Albert Camus, is a philosophical fiction piece published in 1942. This book used both Existentialism and Absurdism to promote Meursault s problem throughout the book. Both of these are related to Modernism, which was the aftermath of the industrial revolution. â€Å"Modernism is a phil osophical movement that along with cultural trends and changes arose wide-scale and far reaching transformations in western society during the late 19th and early 20th century†(KoofersRead MoreEssay The Stranger754 Words   |  4 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Albert Camus’ The Stranger, is told by narrarator, Meursault . Our speaker seems to be a person detached from feelings, he shows no emotion. Neither the external world in which Meursault lives nor the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possesses any rational order. He doesn’t have reasons for doing half of the things he does. For these reasons I believe Meursault is determined, but doesn’t know it. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Our protagonist and narraratorRead More The Stranger Essay962 Words   |  4 PagesThe Stranger The Stranger was originally written in French. When Stuart Gilbert translated the novel, he came across a small problem. â€Å"The title of Camus’ classic novel is difficult to render into English because the French word bears the connotations of both ‘stranger’ and ‘foreigner’ at the same time, and each of these concepts is at play in the novel.† (Mairowitz1) Finding the right translation was crucial because the title is symbolic. â€Å"The Stranger symbolizes the theme of theRead More The Stranger Essay1496 Words   |  6 PagesAlbert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked upon by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that show true humanity which tends to have been ignored due to the fact of how typical it has become. Camus incorporates abominable personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and every one’s fate. Camus demonstrates the disregarded reason behind the origins of relationships betweenRead MoreThe Stranger Essay963 Words   |  4 PagesThe Stranger Chris Drusbosky 3/5/12 Professor Krauss In the story â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus, the belief that the themes of loss and retrieval are at the core of Mersault’s mythology, and that they illumine the notion of exile to which he returns so often is widely discussed. I however do not believe that either one of those themes has anything to do with the Mersault and the exile to which he returns to so often, rather I believe that Mersault’s own attitude is the reason for the exile