Meursault’s common sense is that everyone dies eventually, and their lives do not matter in the end. Meursault is a “stranger” and an absurdity to society because he does not show any emotions, he has no meaning for life, and his only certainty and guarantee is death.
The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life.
What was the point of the stranger?
Camus utilized The Stranger as a platform to explore absurdity, a concept central to his writings and at the core of his treatment of questions about the meaning of life. However, Camus did not identify himself as a philosopher.
Why is the stranger called the stranger?
This is based on the word « foreigner, » but the same thing applies to the title The Stranger. Meursault is a stranger among other people because he is so isolated from them—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and, by the end of the text, physically (he’s imprisoned). . He’s the stranger.
What is the significance of the title the outsider?
We know this guy is detachment personified, so it’s easy to argue that he’s a foreigner to society, to common, human customs—he’s an « outsider » (yet another possible translation for the title, by the way). This is based on the word « foreigner, » but the same thing applies to the title The Stranger.
What does the guillotine symbolize in the stranger?
The guillotine is one of the things Meursault thinks about while he is waiting in prison to be executed. . He frequently refers to the guillotine as « the machine » and says it destroys everything, so I thought it was symbolism for the « machine » of society that wants to eliminate him.
What is the message given in the stranger?
Camus’s message in The Stranger is that life is absurd. He communicates this message through the protagonist, Meursault, who lives his life according to the belief that his world operates without order, reason, or meaning.
How does part one of the stranger exemplify the absurd?
Michael Stultz, M.A. Part I of The Stranger presents the first of three deaths: Meurault’s mother’s. Meursault has no connection or role in her death, unlike the death of the Arab in Part II and his own execution in Part III. Therefore, death is seen by Meursault in an external, detached, and absurd way.
What is the main theme of the stranger?
Major themes of The Stranger include alienation, absurdity, and French colonialism. Meursault is the titular stranger, a young shipping clerk living in Algiers in the 1940s, when it was still a French colony. Meursault’s life is dull and empty, and Meursault takes little pleasure in living.
What does the stranger symbolize?
The symbols in The Stranger represent conflicts for Meursault between social convention and engagement in the experiences of life.
Why does Meursault want a crowd at his execution?
Meursault finds that he is also happy with his position in society. He does not mind being a loathed criminal. He only wishes for companionship, “to feel less alone.” He accepts that this companionship will take the form of an angry mob on his execution day.
What is the meaning behind the stranger?
The Irrationality of the Universe Though The Stranger is a work of fiction, it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual lives and human existence in general have no rational meaning or order.
What does the heat symbolize in the stranger?
Heat symbolizes the indifference of the universe towards human life. The sun’s blazing intensity without regard for bodily comfort or peace of mind stands for the general disregard the natural world has for humanity. Thus, human life is essentially meaningless and no higher or deeper order should be looked for.
What does Meursault symbolize?
The crucifix that the examining magistrate waves at Meursault symbolizes Christianity, which stands in opposition to Camus’s absurdist world view. . When Meursault defies the magistrate by rejecting Christianity, he implicitly rejects all systems that seek to define a rational order within human existence.
What is the plot of the stranger?
Meursault, the narrator, is a young man living in Algiers. After receiving a telegram informing him of his mother’s death, he takes a bus to Marengo, where his mother had been living in an old persons’ home. He sleeps for almost the entire trip. When he arrives, he speaks to the director of the home.
What is the main conflict in the stranger?
major conflict After committing murder, Meursault struggles against society’s attempts to manufacture and impose rational explanations for his attitudes and actions. This struggle is embodied by Meursault’s battle with the legal system that prosecutes him.
What is absurdism in the stranger?
Meursault’s common sense is that everyone dies eventually, and their lives do not matter in the end. Meursault is a “stranger” and an absurdity to society because he does not show any emotions, he has no meaning for life, and his only certainty and guarantee is death.
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