Analysis Of Meursault A Stranger To Society - 1026 Words

Meursault, a man living in Algiers, takes a bus to Marengo to attend his mother’s funeral after receiving a telegram. After the funeral, he seems unaffected by her death and he briefly describes his outing with Marie, his co-worker. Later on, he meets Raymond, an abuser of women, and agrees to go with him to his friend’s beach house. There, he gets entangled in a ruthless murder, and is ultimately sentenced to death. During his last hours, Meursault realizes how meaningless and pointless life is and accepts his fate- wishing only that the crowds would scream their hate for him on the day of his execution. Albert Camus accurately depicts Meursault as a stranger to society, to himself, and to human emotions in general, while arguing for the†¦show more content†¦After Meursault’s arrest, he is confronted by the examining magistrate. â€Å"The magistrate ran his hands across his forehead and repeated his question with a slightly different tone in his voice. â€Å"Why? You must tell me. Why? Still I didn’t say anything† (Camus 68). Meursault refuses to answer the magistrate’s pressing question. Through Meursault’s honest thoughts and responses to other people’s accusing question, Camus reinforces the theme of searching for rational order, the main idea of absurdism. Meursault has no desire to explain his reason or motivation for his actions the day he shot a man he never knew five times, except for â€Å"it was because of the sun† (Camus 103). At the end of the book, and at the start of his awakening, Meursault struggles to contain his uncharacteristic illusions of joy. â€Å"The trouble was that I somehow have to cool the hot blood that would suddenly surge through my body and sting my eyes with a delirious joy. It would take all my strength to quiet my heart, to be rational† (Camus 114). Slowly decaying is the calm, withdrawn man; he is now on the verge of breaking the wall between a sleep-like way of living and awareness of the meaninglessness of reality. He was unable to make a decision for himself without wandering wherever life takes him, but then he â€Å"snapped† and roared at the chaplain with a raging joy that can only be contributed to his realization of freedom. By the same token, Meursault is a stranger toShow MoreRelatedAlberts Aimless Absurdity898 Words   |  4 PagesIn Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, he exposes his beliefs on absurdism through the narration of Meursault. Camus’ definition of absurdism is a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is illogical and meaningless. Camus, founder of absurdism and French Nobel Prize winning author, sends the reader his underlying theme that life is meaningless and has no ulti-mate significance. 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