Any subject. Any type of essay. In The Outsider he tells the story of an emotionless and immoral character, Meursault, and how he deals with the norms of the society and the judgmental people around him.
The story takes place in Algiers, where Meursault receives a telegram informing him that his mother had passed out and that he needed to attend the funeral, in which he did not show any emotion. Later on, as the character evolves, he kills a man with no specific motive and he is prosecuted in court for his actions. With supporting evidence from the novel, it can be argued that Meursault is an outsider to society, to himself and to his environment, only to some extent.
In the eyes of society Meursault is an outsider, a peculiar and detached man, who does not seem to understand how everything is supposed to function around him. Meursault does not understand why events, such as marriage or death of a loved one, usually have a sentimental value for people and this is what makes him appear as numb and disconnected with them. Later on, Meursault is found in a perplexing situation where he kills an Arab at the beach, without any clear motive.
As he is being interviewed, Meursault tries to convince his lawyer that he did not know the man he killed and that he shot him for no reason.
Also, when the judge interrogated him, he kept asking him why he shot the Arab 5 times, since he was dead with the first shot but Meursault did not know what to tell him, because he did not know why he did it. When the judge got irritated, he brought up religion and God, yet Meursault gave no importance to religion, this was illogical and impossible in the eyes of the judge, who was a representation of society too.
Generally, Meursault is viewed as an outsider to society, since he cannot comprehend the consequences of his actions and he does not follow any of the norms. To contrast the above paragraph, it can be argued that Meursault is not an outsider to his natural environment, as he is so familiar with it, that it affects his decision-making. One can see how much it affected him, since Meursault recognizes the physical world better than the emotional. The huge contrast between the water and the blistering sun seems to calm him down and as he gets in the water he appears more pleased and comforted.
Later on, the protagonist is affected so much by the warmth of the sun, that he kills the Arab without a second thought. In this example, he starts losing concentration and he does not fully understand what the judge is telling him. In the Outsider, the protagonist Meursault seems to be a stranger to himself as well as to the society. He can associate very well with the physical world but not at all with the emotional world around him and this is what makes him the outsider.
Then, Meursault mentions that he was embarrassed of his answer, so one can understand that he is aware of the answer society would expect him to have, yet he either cannot change or he does not want to change in order to fit in. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours. Maybe it was yesterday. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. The Character of Meursault in The Stranger Albert Camus wrote The Stranger during the Existentialist movement, which explains why the main character in the novel, Meursault, is characterized as detached and emotionless, two of the aspects of existentialism.
In Meursault, Camus creates a character he intends his readers to relate to, because he creates characters placed in realistic situations. He wants the reader to form a changing, ambiguous opinion of Meursault. From what Meursault narrates to the reader in the novel, the reader can understand why he attempts to find order and understanding in a confused and mystifying world.
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world.
Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader.
The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment.
He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others. Camus made it seem like all the attention towards Meursault was partially annoying, and since he pleaded guilty and all the evidence pointed towards him, he should serve his jail time for murder like everyone else.
Meursault is a man who feels that the life of one man is not going to change the whole universe and effect every human being living. All in all, Meursault is different from society because of his lack of emotion and having a different morals. Meursault clearly explains his beliefs and how there is ultimately no meaning in life.
Along with Meursault having no meaning in life, he declines the existence of God, even after being sentenced to execution. But Meursault has not found any religion to comfort him before death but instead is left with his thoughts and the hope to live another day until his inevitable death arrives. Meursault does not have any meaning in life and no understanding of the meaning in other lives around him.
The only certainty that Meursault has and holds onto is that everyone eventually dies. It comforts him to know this due to the fact that he at least knows how and when he is going to die.
Meursault is sure of his past, present, and future, unlike the priest he is comparing himself to, who does not know when or how he is going to die. He thinks about how much he misses Marie, he finally understands why his mother took a fiance so close to her own death, and he hopes that there will be a huge and hateful crowd to greet him at his execution so he will at least go out with a bang and be remembered for something. In this sense, all human activity is absurd, and the real freedom is to be aware of life in its actually and totally, of its beauty and its pain.
He is lost in thought to pass by time when he could not sleep, thinking about the beach and how beautiful it was before he murdered the Arab, and thinking about how beautiful Marie is and what he would do to see her one last time.
Meursault feels free because there is no rush to change whether he is going to die or not. His death is set in stone and his deathbed is already laid out for him. There are beautiful sceneries to see like the sunrise or sunset, or maybe even searching through the stars. But there is also pain, which includes death and emotions, the good days gone bad.
Meursault does mention and notice the beautiful sceneries and describes them to the readers. Just seeing the beauty could make his simplistic mind happy. Death to him is just one less person to worry about on this earth.
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