The Demonstration of Existentialism in Albert Camus’ Novel “The Stranger”

Existentialism is defined as a philosophical attitude that stresses the individuals unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for the authenticity of his or her choices. This philosophy goes against other philosophical attitudes, including rationalism and empiricism. where decisions are based upon prior knowledge. The one thing that existentialists believe is inevitable In life is death. In the novel The Stranger. by Albert Camus. the protagonist, Meursault. lives a passive lifestyle where he chooses not to make decisions. However. when Meursualt is faced with the ineVItable. he begins to have emotion and passion. As the novel progresses. Meursualt makes a transition and begins to think like an existentialist. At the beginning of the novel. Meursualt chooses to have his life live him instead of living his own life. This is clearly illustrated by Meursualts weekly Sunday. On Sundays Meursault does not have work and is therefore not told what to do.

Instead of making decisions and enjoying his day off. Meursault does nothing with the opportunity of free choice and simply disassociates himself from society. Meursault sits at his window and observes the citizens in his community. He uses his senses to describe the exact physical setting. He even notices small. minor details like a little girls big pink bow and her black patent leather shoes. He can determine where people have been based on their attitude and facial expression. The young men among [the moviegoers] were gesturing more excitedly than usual and [Meursault] thought they must have seen an adventure film (23). This quote not only depicts the accuracy of Merusualts observances. but also depicts his experience with these Observances proVing that this is a usual Sunday for him. By the end of the day Meursault is happy for a new week in his life to start and begin. He says.

It occurred to [him] that anyway one more Sunday was over. that Maman was buried now. that [he] was going back to work. and that. really. nothing had changed (24). Although a death in the family could be the most important and monumental moment in everyones life, Meursault does not seem phased by his mothers death All Meursault thinks about is how another week in his life is over when in reality he is now a week closer to death and he has done nothing with his life. Meursaults Sunday clearly illustrates his passive lifestyle void of responsibilities and feelings. Later in the novel. Meursault makes a decision but does not understand the consequences of his action. When Meursault went to the beach to Visit Raymonds friend. Masson. Meursault decides to murder an Arab man. After Meursault and Raymond already ran into the Arabs once. Meursault decides to walk back to the Arabs shaded area and kill him, It occurred to [Meursault] that all [he] had to do was turn around and that that would be the end of it (58). However. Meursault could not turn around because he already made his decision.

He has no angst and does not see the difference between shooting and not shooting when really it is one persons life that he is taking away. Meursault finds the burning heat causing him to move closer and closer to the Arab, As he gets closer the sweat in [his] eyebrows dripped down over [his] eyelids and covered his eyes (59). This film of sweat shows how mentally his whole mind is being blinded and how it causes him to not think. The first time Meursault shoots the Arab he claims the trigger gave and is not ready to live up to his decision (59). However. then [he] fired four more times at the motionless body And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness (59). At this point. Meursault admits that he was the one who fired the gun and finally understands that there will be consequences. He confesses that prior to this he was happy and knows that that Will change.

This point in the novel marks the start of Meursaults real life. Prior to this mcrdent. Meursault plainly existed. He did not make any decisions for himself and lived a passive lifestyle. After this incident. Meursaults life will change. At the end of the novel. Meursaults character finally develops causing him to have emotions and passions. After Meursaults trail. he is sentenced to death by a guillotine. As Meursault first starts to think about his execution. he tries to think of ways to escape the inevitable. However. he soon begins to think existentially. Whether it was now or twenty years from now. [he] would still be the one dying (114). He realizes that it does not matter what day he dies or how he dies because he is going to die one day anyway. He also realizes that in the end it does not matter how you live your life or what decisions you make because you are ultimately going to die. His feelings come out when the Chaplin comes to Visit him in his cell.

Whenever the guards asked Meursault if he would like to see the Chaplin he always refuses. When the Chaplin went to Meursaults cell [he] was expressrng his certainty that [Meursaults] appeal would be granted. but [Meursault] was carrying the burden of a sin from which [he] had to free [himself] (118). Meursault cannot make an appeal because he knows he is the only one who can free him from his sin, not God. He finally realizes he has committed a sin and is now living With the guilt associated With that sin. When the Chaplin continues to try and talk to Meursault about God, Meursault snaps. He wants to try and make the best of the rest of his life and he feels the Chaplin is intruding.

Meursault goes crazy and [he] started yelling at the top of [his] lung [he] was pouring out on [the Chaplin] everything that was in [his] heart, cries of anger and cries of joy (120). This reaction ponrays how the Chaplin causes Meursault to finally have emotion and passion. Although at the end of the novel, this is a ma]or turning point for Meursault. Before Meursault was Viewed as a stranger that could not fit into society because he was void of emotion Finally, we see Meursault as havtng feelings and choosing not to be a passwe bystander. Many view The Stranger as an existential novel due to the choices Meursault makes in life. As the novel progresses, Meursault gradually begins to live a less passive lifestyle which causes him to have feelings. At the beginning of the novel Meursault did not fit into society. rather he observed society from afar. Once Meursault makes a life changing decision, he is forced to think about the ineVItable and begins to view life more existentially.

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The Stranger vs the Awakening

In the novel The Stranger the main character Numerals is a male indifferent to society and seems to care about absolutely nothing. Even when his mother dies he is indifferent about it, the only thing he can have any feelings for at all is the nagging heat of the sun at the funeral. He even begins an affair with his mistress Marie the day after the funeral, clearly thinking about sex, which is very important to him. When Marie asks Numerals to marry her he says he could care less either way, which is a blatant sign of careless and emotionless thoughts.

It is not until Numerals is imprisoned and sentenced to death does he begin to realize how much he likes his life. HE tells the reader that he sizes the ocean and craves sex and cigarettes, which is the first time he ever has a want or show of emotion towards anything. The Chaplin offers Numerals freedom and life if he will believe God, but of course Numerals will not give in and go against his beliefs. Just before the machine of society cuts him from existence, Numerals laughs in their face showing strength and victory.

In The Awakening the main character Is Edna who is dissatisfied with her marriage and motherhood. She finds herself as a person and acts on her desire for sex and emotional connection with her newfound love Robert. There Is a gradual disconnection between Edna and her husband as the novel moves forth, yet Edna begins to slowly become more Independent and free willing at the same time. Her desires and blatant rebellion against the rules of society overwhelmingly Isolates her, causing her to give up end her life by suicide.

Considering that Campus Is a male writing about a male character and Chopin Is a female writing about a female character It Is quite an Interesting Idea to pursue that this would affect the way each character handled adversity. Campus’ character Numerals Is very strong and Indifferent to society throughout the novel and does not vive Into society. HIS lack of emotion also developed an Image of strength for the simple fact that nothing affected him, and he was Indifferent to all of society. This Is due to Campus growing up In a society that forces males to hide their emotions to give Off false sense of strength and power.

Throughout Campus’ life he had never claimed to be tied down In marriage having numerous affairs, having never truly assumed faith, as well as living In seclusion before publishing the novel also affected the way the character chose his paths. Numerals seems to be an extremist version of Campus myself, an example Is Merchants ever longing desire for sex and Campus numerous affairs. This also explains to the reader Merchants strength and personal victory through perseverance, which would only be given to a male character through the eyes AT a male autumn. Nonplus Deluge a Tamale writing tout a Tamale contracted most likely has a direct connection with why Edna chose the decision she did at the end of the novel. In the time period Chopin grew up women were not looked at as strong powerful figures that could handle tough situations. Chopin was writing this book after her husband’s death in 1882, when he left her with $12,000 of debts. She tried to run their family plantation and store but she Just could not handle it.

Being raised with this thought and conception of women being weak as well as her hard times faced while writing this novel is exactly why she had Edna commit suicide in the end of the novel. For Edna there was no escaping the problem, as there was no escaping the problem of debt for Chopin. She was either exiled from society or stuck living a life of unhappiness; her solution was to escape by taking the easy way out and killing herself. This action clearly shows the author’s perception that females are not palpable of enduring times of adversity and hardship because she herself wanted to quit deep down on the inside.

After reading both novels is it easy to see which character is stronger in their fight against society? Edna took the easy way out by escaping through suicide, which is society over powering her and essentially winning the battle. Numerals on the other hand was never defeated by society; no matter what they threw at him he stood his ground and kept his beliefs. The ultimate sign of his strength and victory is when he laughs in the face of society essentially saying, “l won, I’m right, you cannot and will not break me. “

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The Tragedy Archetype

The seven archetypes is a theory in which there are seven ways of story-telling namely Quest, Voyage and Return, Rebirth, Comedy, Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches and Tragedy. The Tragedy archetype is one of the seven archetypes used in story-telling mentioned by Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots. This archetype is known to expect a specific reaction from the readers often using grief, destruction and death.

As the archetype manifests itself through time, there are many ways authors have interpreted the archetype through their stories. An element in the archetype that can be carefully observed is the notion of Rebirth where the main character eventually comprehends their misinterpretation of the world and their blunders which had caused their destruction, typically hubris. This suggests that there is a part of the Rebirth archetype in the Tragedy archetype. The question is, is tragedy a type of the rebirth archetype?

The absurdist novel entitled The Stranger (The Outsider), also known as L’Etranger by Albert Camus clearly portrays the rebirth in the story but is still engulfed by the tragedy concepts seen in many literature examples. “Once you’re up against it, the precise manner of your death has obviously small importance” (Camus, 71). The Stranger, written by Albert Camus is a tragedy book based on the story plot of a man named Meursault who is a psychologically and socially detached individual. He is also known to be amoral, not caring or knowing what is right or wrong and sees feelings in a physical sense.

In one scene of the book, his mother had passed away and instead of grieving, he impassively looks at his mother’s grave and refuses the re-opening of the casket, which surprises many. He is also not responsive to human emotions such as desires and love. When the prospect of marriage was mentioned by his recent lover, Marie Cardona, he responds with “If she was keen on it, we’d get married. ” (28, Camus. ) The Stranger can go under the tragedy archetype where it is classified by Booker as ‘the hero as a monster’ since Meursault himself is the cause of his own death.

This happened since he stopped a friend, Raymond Sintes from shooting an Arab who was his “mistress’s” brother. And for no apparent reason, he came back and killed the Arab with a gun. A factor that may have affected his actions was probably because of the condition of the beach that was “pulsing with heat” (38, Camus). Although hubris is a common cause in the tragedy archetype, Meursault did not think of himself highly or more superior than others, but rather as an observer where reality is harsh for those who have no poignancy.

He does not express himself much but with the reader as an observer as well, this creates the feeling of sadness for the main character even though he doesn’t experience much of it. As the titles of the book says, he is merely a victim tortured by the difference in perspectives, this small difference makes him unique, or even a threat to others. Not only did Meursault set up his own death, but the society in which he lived in contributed as well. The core of the consequences can be traced by Hamartia, a Greek term meaning the fatal flaw of the hero which causes their death in the tragedy archetype story.

In The Stranger, Meursault’s flaw can be seen as his lack of emotions and his frankness. Even though being emotionless does not affect his daily life or well-being, the environment of the situation created was greatly affected. An example is of how the people in court see him and how they also judge his beliefs, not for what he is, but what he says. When Meursault met a magistrate who tried to convert him, he called Meursault “Mr. Antichrist” (45, Camus) for being open and truthful about his beliefs, this then advocated his execution.

Meursault sees things that other do not, which is one of the main causes of the resulting consequence. Humans often act on impulse, not by logic and the miscommunication between the other characters and Meursault creates conflict and sadly, the majority regularly wins in the tragedy archetype. The tragedy archetype is known to end with death, which is the norm for many stories, including The Stranger as well. Booker had also stated that the archetype sometimes involves the rebirth of the main character which usually comes before the tragic end of the main character.

In comparison to Looking for Alaska, a modern novel written by John Green, The Stranger is more eye-opening since the concept of rebirth is directly experienced by the main character whilst the rebirth element in Looking for Alaska is not quite clear because the main character, Miles, continues on with his life as nearly the same person even though his friend, Alaska’s, death had a tremendous effect on other characters. With the longer lingering rebirth in The Stranger, Meursault finds comfort in the end where he becomes a ‘new person’ within himself, which proposes the idea of self-discovery.

In his last moments, Meursault thoughts were “To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still. ” “For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration” (76, Booker). Even though the happiness was short, there was still a change in him as seen before the end of the book. In Booker’s analysis of the rebirth archetype, there are two types of rebirth which is physical and mental rebirth.

An example of a physical rebirth could be found in the folktale of The Sleeping Beauty as she literally wakes up from her curse. A mental rebirth example could be found in Crash (2004), where a Farhad, a character realizes that his rage had clouded his judgment and he becomes calm and content, different from how he was from the start. The Stranger goes under the mental rebirth category since Meursault’s own conclusions resulted in the enrichment of his own mind as he begins to accept things in life.

However, this does not necessarily mean that The Stranger can be directly ‘put under’ the Rebirth archetype. When referring to Booker’s analysis, it is stated that “we have only seen this return of light partially, ultimately insufficient to prevail against the forces of darkness which have been unleashed, and which eventually sweep the hero or heroine away” (Booker, 192). This means that in the tragedy archetype, ‘the light’ which is the rebirth of the character, can be seen only for a moment before it dissipates with the main character’s demise.

This could be compared to a candlelight where it flickers in the dark but does not last forever since it cannot maintain the flame and eventually, will be engulfed by darkness, which is, the sins or the consequences that slowly yet surely, catch up to the main character. All in all, even though The Stranger contains the Rebirth of a character who wakes up from an inner sleep or obliviousness, the tragedy archetype had proved itself to be more complicated and deeper with many fundamentals and forms that had manifested overtime.

This then revealed the inner workings of the archetype including the profound meanings in the book. It is difficult to justify realistic and life-like story into separate categories as there are many factors, emotions and feelings brought in different events. But as they say, the end justifies the means in this particular book where Meursault dies a miserable and solitude death within the clutches of society. Again, regardless of the light’ in the story, The Stranger is a tragedy story weaved with the rebirth archetype’s features which implies that the tragedy archetype could also contain mixes but still maintain its structure throughout history whether it is in an old-world or modern literature. In short, the tragedy archetype is one of the most interesting and riveting of the seven archetypes that seem basic; but with careful observation and research can prove to be a very useful way of story-telling that can be remembered by readers despite of the era or time in which the archetype had laid itself upon.

Bibliography (Citations)

  1. Innovateus. “What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? ” What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? Innovateus, 2011. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.
  2. Booker, Christopher. “Chapter 9: Tragedy. ” The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pag. Print.
  3. Booker, Christopher. “Chapter 11: Rebirth. ” The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pag. Print. “The Stranger. ” SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.

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Albert Camus and “The Stranger”

Albert Camus is a French writer and philosopher, Nobel Prize winner in 1957, an author who is usually referred as existentialist (although he rejected this), a  man who was called “Conscience of the West”. Camus was born in 1913 in Algeria in a family of a French settler and a Spanish woman.

His father died during the First World War in 1914. Camus mother moved to the suburbs of Algiers where the family had to survive in poor living conditions. However in 1923 Camus was accepted into the lycée and afterwards managed to gain entrance to the University of Algiers. At this time Camus became interested in football, yet tuberculosis has put an end to his hobby.

During his studies Camus continued to experience material problems and so he had to take odd jobs like a clerk or a tutor. Those hardships still did not prevent purposive Camus to present his master thesis on Neo-Platonism in 1936.

While in the University Camus joined the communist movements of various kinds and then the anarchist party. Camus wrote numerous publications on anarchism and founded a Worker’s Theater in 1935. Political publications cost him job in 1939. In 1940 he decided to join the French army to fight against the Nazi, but he failed due to tuberculosis. Camus did not die at war with the Germans as his father, and had to witness Nazi parades in Paris and the execution of Gabriel Péri – an event that crystallized Camus anti-German views.

In 1942 he returned to Algeria where he stayed until the Allies returned to Paris. During the Was Camus joined a cell of Resistance movement and published and underground newspaper.  Anarchism remained in Camus mind for the rest of his life. He supported anarchists during Spanish civil war and later in the 50-s during anti-communist apprising in Germany, Poland and Hungary.

In 1951 he published “The Rebel” – a philosophical analysis of rebellion which demonstrated his alienation from communism and resulted in breach of his friendship with Sartre, however, strengthened his friendship with George Orwell, with whom he opposed totalitarianism of both East and West.

Together with Orwell and others he organized the European Federalist Movement in 1945 and welcomed the ideas of UN and European federation, which later failed as a result of domination of Churchill’s idea of European Union.

At the time Camus became known as a dogmatic opponent of restrictions of freedom of any kind, and a principal antagonist of death penalty, which he castigated in “The Plague” and especially in “The Stranger”. Camus was also one of the first cultural activists who protested against nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as nuclear weapons themselves.

Family life of Camus was not so stable, as his political opinions. In 1934 he married Simone Hie – a woman who was addicted to morphine, however, he soon divorced her as a result of infidelities of both. In 1940 he married for the second time. This time his wife was Francine Faure, talented pianist and mathematician.

Love of Camus to Francine was so passionate that he even rejected his own anarchist views on marriage as unnatural institution. After marriage Camus had numerous affairs with other women, which he did not even try to hide. Still on September 5, 1945 Francine gave birth to twins Catherine and Jean.

Camus life ended in a traffic accident on January 4, 1960 near Sens. France. His close friend and publisher Michel Gallimard drove the car and also perished. Camus grave in the Lourmarin Cemetery, Lourmarin, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France. The twin children of Camus still hold copyright on all of his works[1].

[1] O. Todd. Albert Camus: A Life. Da Capo Press; 1st Carroll & Graf Ed edition. 2000.

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Albert Camus and “The Stranger”

Albert Camus is a French writer and philosopher, Nobel Prize winner in 1957, an author who is usually referred as existentialist (although he rejected this), a  man who was called “Conscience of the West”. Camus was born in 1913 in Algeria in a family of a French settler and a Spanish woman. His father died […]

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