The Stranger

The Stranger, written by French Author Albert Camus, presents a self-narrated story of the main character Meursault, a person spiritually detached from the rest of the world, whose mind is full of absurdism. Camus illustrates the conflicts which Meursault experiences while living in a world that urges him to explore the purpose of human life. At the same time, the novel also displays the irony underlying the nature of mankind by portraying events that go utterly the way incongruent to…...

This essay is based on the enigmatic novel written by Albert Camus. There are multiple reviews of this book, but it was originally published in French, in 1942,'The Outsider in England and ‘The Stranger’ in the US. The novel is narrated by Meursault, a character, who is an atheist and nihilist. His reviews of the society are different, and his feelings are not that of the normal people living in the society. This is demonstrated and explained in the book’s…...

Reflective Statement By exploring Algerian history and culture in the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, I have come to understand how the history of Algeria plays a crucial role in the thematic elements of the novel. For example, I discovered how the French colonized Algeria from 1830 to 1962. Since the novel was published in 1942, it makes sense that there are tensions between the native Algerians in the novel and the French. I also learned a lot about…...

The Stranger or The Outsider as it is alternatively known is – interesting to say the least. The conflict of the book made you contemplate meaning of life and society. The conflict can be interpreted in a bunch of ways, really, but what is/are the main conflict(s)? After reading the book followed by spending numerous hours in the shower contemplating the meaning of life, I officially came to the conclusion of man versus self as well as man vs society.…...

In Albert Camus's famous novel The Stranger there are many out of the ordinary occurrences, the theory of absurdity is thought of quite frequently throughout. The main character Meursault, gets himself into a predicament that develops Camus's philosophy of the absurd. His philosophy is that humans tend to impose a rational order on the world in the face of evidence that the world is absurd. According to Webster's Dictionary the word "absurd means clearly unreasonable" (Webster 4). This means that…...

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life" - Albert Camus Throughout his life Albert believed the world is absurd, without purpose, and leading only onto death. Sunday through Saturday people go through the same motions, repeating the same lives until one day the question of why overcomes us. This causes many in the world to search for an explanation of…...

The novel begins with Meursault, a shipping clerk living in French Algiers in the 1940s, reading a message announcing the passing of his mom. While at the funeral the guests are surprised at his strange calm behavior. He goes on a date with a girl he just met, helps a pimp, and goes to a beach outside of town with both. Meursault and his friend, Raymond, are confronted by Arabs. A fight breaks out, with Meursault ultimately shooting an Arab.…...

The novel begins with Meursault, a shipping clerk living in French Algiers in the 1940s, reading a message announcing the passing of his mom. While at the funeral the guests are surprised at his strange calm behavior. He goes on a date with a girl he just met, helps a pimp, and goes to a beach outside of town with both. Meursault and his friend, Raymond, are confronted by Arabs. A fight breaks out, with Meursault ultimately shooting an Arab.…...

Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus' The Outsider, both feature protagonists in situations out of which arise existentialist values. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. In The Metamorphosis the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, realizes his existentialism towards the end of the novella. In contrast, Monsieur Meursault, the protagonist…...

In the novel, The Stranger, author Albert Camus confronts some important issues of the time, and uses the singular viewpoint of the narrator Meursault to develop his philosophy and effectively weave together themes of absurdity, colonialism, and free will. Through the progressive disruption of Meursault’s life and his characterization, Camus presents the absurdity of the human condition along with the understanding that a person can actually be happy in the face of the absurd. Camus also intentionally sets the story…...