Meursault In The Stranger

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What causes a person to take the actions that they do in their life? People can do many unexpected things in different situations. Often times a person tends to act before they think and regret their decision in the future. The response someone has in this type of situation might not be characteristic of their personality or identity. The main character in The Stranger did not seem like a likely person so conduct a murder, but in fact he did. The main character, Meursault, is lead to murder the Arab because he is not self-aware of his actions. Through his daily life, Meursault is detached from his surroundings and is removed from his daily relationships, causing him to be removed from the society he lives in. He is in a relationship with a woman named Marie and mentions,
“That evening Marie came and asked me if I’d marry her. I said I didn’t mind; if she was keen …show more content…
Although he seems attracted to Marie, he is removed from any interactions that they have together, only agreeing with other people because he simply has nothing against doing what they suggest. When his neighbor Raymond asks if he will go to dinner, he says that he will go because he has no reason not to, and will not have to cook dinner. Meursault does not think about normal functions, such as eating to fulfill his life, and decides to make dinner whenever he is hungry, fulfilling his life as the needs present themselves. The topic of free will is discussed, saying,
"Though the possession of a free will is taken for granted by most people, the presentation of its "freeness" in The Stranger is rather unsettling. Meursault consistently expresses his awareness of his own will as free. In some instances, this might be interpreted as indifference, but Meursault is decidedly, perhaps starkly, free. He does not feel the temptation to encumber his reasoning with considerations or dogmas”

The Motivation Of Meursault In The Stranger

The novel The Stranger, starts off with Meursault receiving a telegram saying that his mother had died. He soon tells us that he is not able to take care of his mother, so he had placed her in a home for the aged persons. After he puts his mother in home for the aged, he says that the apartment that him and maman shared now felt big and empty. He could finally do what he wanted and he never had to worry about her disagreeing with him. Meursault says that it is difficult for him to find motivation…

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Essay On Meursault In Albert Camus's 'The Stranger'

Meursault, the main character in Albert Camus’s The Stranger, is judged immoral by many characters throughout the novel. Most notably this judgment comes from the jury that tries him for a murder he committed. However, Meursault is anything but immoral; he is simply reserved, bad at expressing his emotions, leading him to be misunderstood and misrepresented. Initially the reader is forced to see Meursault in the same light that the jury does, based on Meursault’s presentation. Lines like: “Maman…

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The Stranger, By Albert Camus

In “The Stranger”, by Albert Camus, the title refers to Meursault, the protagonist, being a stranger to modernized society. Meursault is seen as a stranger to the audience and his community in the way he carries himself in the public eye. The original version of “The Stranger” was written in French, and the title was “L’Etranger”. Directly translated into English, it means “the foreigner”. In a literal way, it makes sense because Meursault is a Frenchman living in Algeria(which the French had colonized…

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Who Is Marie A Foil To The Protagonist?

Albert Camus was a passionate political journalist and novelist, best known for his works, The Stranger and The Plague, both structured around the philosophical theory of Absurdism. Absurdism is explained as a philosophy that holds the effort of humanity to find meaning or explanation in the universe that ultimately fails because no such purpose or meaning exists. The protagonist of The Stranger, Meursault, is a character structured to live life through the philosophical view of such beliefs. Through…

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Absurdism and Monsieur Camus Essays

Camus, a selfproclaimed Absurdist, is in fact an Existentialist; however, this claim is contradicted by his novella, The Stranger. Throughout this novella Absurdist ideas and philosophies are found in every nook and cranny. Absurdism is the belief that our existence is in a purposeless and chaotic universe so nothing really matters. This belief is showcased throughout The Stranger many times in many ways. Absurdism is best shown in the character Meursault's outlook on life and reactions to events in…

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World Literature Paper

How the Authors Use Hardships to Elicit Compassion for the Protagonists in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger One of the most important connections between The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Stranger by Albert Camus is the way the protagonists die at the end of each novel. As a conclusion, Gregor’s death and the way his family handles it have a strikingly powerful effect on the audience. Likewise, the announcement of Meursault’s death by guillotine has a similar effect on the audience’s…

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Essay about The Absurd Man's Awakening

Camus’s novel, The Stranger, tells the story of the life of Meursault, a French man living in Algeria in the early 1940s. Scholars say Meursault “sleepwalks” through his life, living without much meaning or emotion. One blistering hot day at the beach, he shoots and kills an Arab for no apparent reason. Throughout the second part of the book, Meursault goes through his trial and after eleven months he receives a sentence of death by guillotine. While awaiting his execution, Meursault awakens and finds…

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Alber Camu Stranger Review Essays

Camus The Stranger Review Albert Camus’s Stranger was his one of the first novels which was and still is admired and appreciated all across the world. The short novel tells a story about the main character Meursault and his relationship with the world around him. The first part of the book tells of Meursault mother’s death, his indifference and emotionless state towards the news, Meursault’s love life and his unpredicted and fateful acquaintance with his neighbour. The quiet life of Meursault is soon…

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Meursault's Neighbor In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

neighborhood, he is not very popular. Camus describes Raymond as “ very sharp” because of his fashionable edge. In “ The Stranger”, Raymond is recognized as abusive, especially towards his girlfriend who he claims is cheating on him. He is clearly a malevolent influence to Meursault specifically because Meursault does not care what is morally right or wrong.. In “ The Stranger”, it states “ But he often talks to me and sometimes stops by my place for a minute, because I listen to him. I find what…

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Aisha Bhatti A Essay

Aisha Bhatti Mr. Steinke A.P. Literature 4 January 2015 Comparison between Oedipus and Meursault The Stranger and Oedipus the King are two literary works that were written approximately thousand years apart by different authors living in different time periods. The Stranger was written by Albert Camus who lived in post world war France. Oedipus the king was written by Sophocles who lived in ancient Greek: although they were written by different authors of different background, time, and location…

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