...After wrapping up the first chapter of Albert Camus’ The Stranger, I find myself questioning the heart of man. The opening lines stated “Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure” (Camus 4). Reading about a man who is not affected by the death of his own mother is quite sickening. The opening scenes of the novel seem quite morbid and I am nervous to continue reading. Meursault seems like a guy that has mental problems and could possibly be very dangerous. Potential conflicts in this novel seem to be quite obvious. Meursault will most likely have a conflict dealing with himself and he will have to find what it is to do to spiritually heal himself and those around him. His lack of interest in the world will render him weak in...
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...There is always that one annoying “I am different and unique” kid that nobody likes or understands. In Albert Camus’s novel “The stranger” he explores the other side and allows us to see through that one kids eyes of what it is like to live alone. Furthermore, showing us the most predominant theme in the novel “The Stranger” is being alone and alienated is a painful existence. Right off the bat the book is showcasing the predominant theme throughout the entirety of the first scene. Mersault in the first scene is physically alone. He is sitting by himself at the wake and receives the pain itself of alienation. As stated in the novel on page 10 “It was then that I realized they were all sitting across from me, nodding their heads, grouped around the care taker. For a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me.” The death of his mother had not altered his emotions in any way, and he was being excluded or separated because of it. This separation continues to the next scene, the funeral. He walks lengths ahead of the group and is mostly entertained by the thought of going home as seen on page 18 “Maman’s casket, the white flesh of the roots mixed in with it, more people, voices, the village, waiting in front...
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...His morals led him to his own execution. In the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus the main character, Meursault, was charged for murder for killing the Arab. His meaning of life including his indifferent attitude at his Mother’s funeral was used against him which led him to his own execution. The final event reveals that the individual is the one who makes meaning of their own life as can be seen through Meursault's interaction with authority, his attitude towards Marie, and his attitude towards his own death as a means of summarizing the major message of the book. Meursault is uncaring for his actions towards the authority strengthening the theme. Going through the case, Meursault did not seek the Chaplain’s empathy to convince them he was innocent, rather he did the opposite. The chaplain asked if Meursault believed in God because his belief was that, “... all men believed in God… and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would be meaningless. ‘Do want my life to meaningless?’ he shouted… It didn't have anything to do with me, and I told him so” (69). His response reveals that no one should be able to control another person’s life and beliefs; even if it was the authorities or a greater power. If he chose to change his belief and...
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...Albert Camus’s 1942 novel The Stranger deals with a myriad of pressing questions. Although The Stranger is relatively short, topics such as absurdism, mortality, and ethical decision-making are littered throughout. In addition, as is the case with great works of literature, The Stranger does not provide answers, but rather, opens the door for interpretation, discussion, and conclusions. Why does the protagonist of the novel, Meursault, feel a lack of remorse over his mother’s death? Why did Meursault choose to shoot and kill “the Arab” after attempting to convince his neighbor Raymond not to shoot? Lastly, if what Meursault believes is true, that the world and human existence has no rational purpose or higher meaning, then what is the reason...
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... Right and Wrong The Stranger by Albert Camus shows plenty of irony because Meursault was killed unjustly. The crisis of Meursault being killed is a serious problem because he is mentally unstable and the jury should have acknowledged it. Through Meursault’s death Albert Camus suggests that he was unlawfully killed. The author uses irony to illustrate how people can be wrongly convicted in the federal justice system. For example the speaker says, “I heard ‘guilty of murder’... ‘premeditated’ … extenuating circumstances (106).” In other words the speaker was accusing Meursault of committing many crimes but Meursault was just mentally incompetent. He should be given extra help,...
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...Albert Camus: an author of the truth about life One of the worst lessons to learn in life is how unimportant people become after the inevitable: death. Albert Camus is very well-known for his many novels exposing the true, cold-hearted facts about life and mankind. Although his writing was mostly focused on the unimportance of life, there was a time when he wrote about politics. He wrote for a very popular underground newspaper that tried to create a non-communist movement in France at the time of World War II. After being influenced by his mentor from college and witnessing deaths from World War II, Albert Camus began writing many novels and plays exposing the indifference of men and the meaninglessness of human life. Camus was born in...
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...Meaning and Existentialism in My Life - Existentialism is a phiosophy which revolves around the central belief that we create ourselves. External factors are not important. It is the way that we let external factors affect us that determines who we are. As individuals we all have the freedom to choose our own path and that is what life is all about. Along with the freedom of choice comes the responsibilty of one's actions which can make some people anxious but give others meaning to their lives. To overcome this anxiousness and accept responsibilty is to meet the challenges of life and to truly live it.... [tags: Existentialism, ] 675 words (1.9 pages) $14.95 [preview] Understanding Existentialism - Do we matter. Do we seek personal happiness in life. These are questions from existentialism. The dictionary defines existentialism as an individual’s experience filled with isolation in a hostile universe where a human being attempts to find true self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Hamlet is an existentialist character who believes that he is forced to avenge his father’s death and the hatred builds in his heart because of the many betrayals which direct him towards a senseless life and constant thoughts about suicide; this ultimately leads to his demise and he is left with naught.... [tags: Existentialism] 872 words (2.5 pages) $14.95 [preview] Life Value vs. Existentialism in Grendel - A main theme in John Gardner’s Grendel...
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...AP English The Stranger Novak (Practice AP samples) THE THESIS PARAGRAPH: • Society is like its own little exclusive club. If an individual fits the criteria, then that person is in; otherwise, an “unwanted” sign is put up, and the outcast is pushed aside. Through books and novels, alienation has revealed the true values of society by using a character’s status as an outcast to prove how un-adaptable cultures are. In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Meursault’s creed is why is he shunned and not accepted by society. (What is that creed? What does society value?) • The common values of a society do not necessarily dictate how all its citizens will act. In The Stranger, Camus creates a society in Northern Africa where people live according to both their material and emotional needs. Meursault, however, illustrates a point of view that seems devoid of emotional need. Thus, he does not live in accord with the virtues of the same society that gives him his life and possessions. His decision to kill a man—a choice devoid of sufficient reason—is the pivotal point between his acceptance within his society and the malice he faces for violating the human right to life. Ultimately, Camus shows how the popular resentment of this murder is based on society’s ideals of justice, love, and a life of purpose—all virtues that Meursault does not have. (Very nice but mention Camus’s first name and introduce Meursault as a character.) THE THESIS STATEMENT: ...
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...Albert Camus was a French-Algerian writer best known for his absurdist works, including The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Early Life Albert Camus was born on November 7, 1913, in Mondavi, French Algeria. His pied-noir family had little money. Camus's father died in combat during World War I, after which Camus lived with his mother, who was partially deaf, in a low-income section of Algiers. Camus did well in school and was admitted to the University of Algiers, where he studied philosophy and played goalie for the soccer team. He quit the team following a bout of tuberculosis in 1930, thereafter focusing on academic study. By 1936, he had obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in philosophy. Political Engagement Camus became political during his student years, joining first the Communist Party and then the Algerian People's Party. As a champion of individual rights, he opposed French colonization and argued for the empowerment of Algerians in politics and labor. Camus would later be associated with the French anarchist movement. At the beginning of World War II, Camus joined the French Resistance in order to help liberate Paris from the Nazi occupation; he met Jean-Paul Sartre during his period of military service. Like Sartre, Camus wrote and published political commentary on the conflict throughout its duration. In 1945, he was one of the few Allied journalists to condemn the American use of the atomic bomb...
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...The Stranger, by Albert Camus, depicts a story about a young man named Meursault whose mother has just died. After his mother dies, he kills an Arab man senselessly so he is put on trial. Throughout the story of his trial, Meursault’s mindset is explored. In Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, Meursault displays the theme of alienation. The main character isolates himself emotionally, from society, his friends and his significant other, Marie. Meursault does not give an explanation as to why he detaches himself from the world. However, the nonexistence of his father and detachment with his mother are key factors that correlate to his need to alienate himself. The absence of Meursault’s father plays into the one of the reasons why Meursault...
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...Finding Joy in Albert Camus’ The Stranger: A Different Perspective Existentialism is often defined as a philosophical movement that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes a few main points, such as the freedom to choose and how the choices you make should be made without the assistance of another person or standard. From the existentialist point of view, you must accept the risk and responsibility of your choices and follow the act and result to wherever it takes the individual. Someone that is put in a certain situation understands it far more than someone looking in on that same situation; one commonly used situation that appears often in existentialist works is that of death. The existentialist should learn to accept death when the time has to come and should know that the most important questions in life are simply inaccessible to reason or science. Acting on your own experiences is essential in arriving at the truth and "man is condemned to be free” (Sartre). As a result of the diversity associated with this term it is impossible to define precisely. As is evident through the root of the word, exist, there is an emphasis on fixed individual existence and freedom of choice. Certain aspects of existentialism are shown in Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Existentialists attempt to direct our attention to ourselves as individuals. They force us to think about our relation to such topics as the existence...
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...albert camus does a great magnificant job in the stranger developing the chaaracter of mersault by using reptition and basic words to show just how robotic mersault is in this story. the style and way mersault decides whether he likes something or not is so basic as he says it himself and is extremely blunt with it. furthermore albert camus shows how emotionless mersault is by showing little to no importance on his mom dying and no cares about marriage or murder which further develops mersaults character as a crazy sociopath. in addition to his emotionless response to the death of his mother he also is drawn as a ruthless killer when he shoots the arab four more times after the one kill shot and says how it was like knocking on a door of unhappiness...
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...In Albert Camus' The Stranger the Meursault is clearly disillusioned of life and two examples of this disillusionment occurred in the instances of his mother's death and an offer to be transferred to another work environment. The novel The Stranger by Albert Camus portrays how Meursault is disillusioned about things that seem to be the most normal basic human concepts of understanding such as his mothers death. With his mother's death, he seemed indifferent at the loss of her life in every way possible. He was so uninterested in her funeral that he remarked the following: "...I can be there for the vigil and come back tomorrow night" (Camus 3). His mother appeared to slow him down. As if he felt he had better things to do. He claimed he never went to visit her in the nursing home because she enjoyed it too much. Nonetheless, he admitted, that the visit "took up my Sunday -- not to mention the trouble of getting to the bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling" (Camus 5). This shows the true lack of care in his mothers death. To further define his insensitivity, Meursault shed not even one tear in this part of the novel; moreover, he expressed no form of sorrow whatsoever. Secondly, Meursault's attitude and reaction toward an offer to be relocated to a Parisian location was a monumental indicator of his insensitivity. One would expect him to accept or decline the offer graciously and respectfully. Meursault proved, again, to be unpredictable when he states, in...
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...Albert Camus Biography Albert Camus was born November 7, 1913, and reared in Algeria, a country exposed to the blistering African sun and the plain by the Mediterranean sea. These roots — the sun and the sea — have spread into all of Camus' writings — the novels, the plays, and the essays. They are a part of his lyricism, his symbolism, and his values. The universe, it seems from his early notebook (Noces), was mother, father, and lover for the young Camus, and from the first, Camus was aware of the paradoxical aspects of his natural world. The sensual free pleasure of swimming and hiking was in continuous contrast to the bare stony earth that made living a matter of poverty and destitution. He was early aware of the absurd condition of humanity's being totally alone in a resplendent universe. This concept is Camus' equivalent of "In the beginning . . ." With this truth, all of his writings sound revolt, for he refused to be deceived by social, religious, or individual submissions that ignored or defied the irreducible truth that humanity alone is responsible for itself, its meaning, and its measure. Camus' writings are a testament to a continuing belief in humanity's exiled but noble condition. Lucien Camus, Albert's father, was killed in 1914, during World War I's Battle of the Marne, and the year-old child was reared by his deaf mother. She had little money and was apparently a rather joyless and boring companion for her son. It is little wonder that he spent much of his...
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...L’Étranger the original name of the book “The Stranger” explores the French novelist, Albert Camus, own philosophy on the absurdity of life. In other words, an absurd word is devoid of rational meaning. The protagonist, Meursault, is created, as an existentialist character showing us how Camus see’s the world, even if he later swore he wasn’t an existentialist. The themes of the novel are mostly based on the everyday life such as religion, the natural world, isolation, mortality, and the absurd life we live on. This plot is aligned with many events that occur by the cause of Meursault’s character to pursue the nonsensical things. The conclusion of this book is based on the fact that the world’s absurdity leads us to find out that there is no...
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