Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider) The...

The Character of Meursault in Camus The Stranger (The Outsider)nbsp; Raymond typifies the beast-character in Camus The Stranger (The Outsider). He is like Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire (T. Williams), emotional and manly. Physical solutions come naturally to him, as we see when he mistreats his ex-girlfriend. Ideally, society is exactly the opposite; law and order attempt to solve things fairly and justly. I propose that Meursault is somewhere between these two extremes and that this is the reason why he is a societal outcast. This metaphor explains his major actions in the book: as he struggles to keep his identity, his personality comes in conflict with the norms of society and he is shut down. Just as an animal sticks†¦show more content†¦Although beast-like, Meursault has some human characteristics, and these are so defined as to be amazing. One is his amazing capacity for telling the truth. He is in fact absurdly honest when in the court room he says, the witness is right. Its true, I did offer him a cigarette (90). Although such a response might normally be contrived to impress and elicit sympathy from the jury, Meursault is not that kind of person. No normal human would go beyond the truth in this way to offer evidence that would hurt his position, especially when death is on the line. Another human characteristic is his ability to rationally assess a situation. We see this in every aspect of his life, from details of the people and weather at the funeral to his nonchalant narrative of the court proceedings. Only twice does his beast feel threatened enough to take over. Bang! The gunshots echo hollowly in the pit of the stomach. Something about mankinds inherent morality should forbid him from committing any such act, but something about Meursaults character permits him the foul luxury. Throughout this scene the sun and light play crucial roles, and in the end they confuse him enough so as to be the catalyst for his awful decision. Here Camus shoves the role of the beast into our face. The sun and light are used to represent nature, which is wild and wholly unpredictable. Nature calls to his beast, and it is Meursaults natural or animalistic side that finally pullsShow MoreRelatedThe Portrayal of Society in Of Mice and Men and The Outsider Essay1430 Words   |  6 Pagesreading the two books for my world literature, of mice and men and the outsider I decided I will compare the two books on the topic choice; portrayal of society in the literature studied. This includes points such as: Meursault and Lenny not being accepted in society for who they ar e because they are different then others; another point would be there is a lot of violence within societies. The rest will be presented further on in my essay. But before presenting my points id like to give you a brief ideaRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The Stranger 2900 Words   |  12 Pages Curtis Poindexter Professor Slattum English M01B 11 December 2014 Literary Analysis: The Stranger The novel The Stranger is a first-person account of the life of M. Meursault from the time of his mother s death up to a time evidently just before his execution for the murder of an Arab. It was written by Albert Camus in 1942. Meursault however, is not your typical hero of a story; rather an antihero. He is neither good nor bad, and harbors no emotion. 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He is ableRead More Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Finding a Rational God through Nature3501 Words   |  15 PagesFinding a Rational God through Nature in Camus The Stranger (The Outsider)    Turning towards nature for fulfillment, The Stranger’s Meursault rejects the ideology of God as a savior and is consequently juxtaposed against Jesus Christ’s martyrdom, Christianity and the infamous crucifixion. To the inexperienced reader, Meursault appears to be an extreme atheist. Later in Albert Camus’ novel, he is revealed as a humanistic soul that’s in touch with the universality of the earth and soil he treadsRead More Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Meursault as Metaphysical Rebel1996 Words   |  8 PagesMeursault as Metaphysical Rebel in The Stranger (The Outsider)  Ã‚     Ã‚   The Stranger by Albert Camus was published in 1942. The setting of the novel is Algiers where Camus spent his youth in poverty. In many ways the main character, Meursault, is a typical Algerian youth. Like them, and like Camus himself, Meursault was in love with the sun and the sea. His life is devoted to appreciating physical sensations. He seems so devoid of emotion. Something in Meursaults character has appealed primarilyRead MoreHuman Relations in Camus Novel, The Outsider, from an Existentialist View2123 Words   |  9 Pagesrelations in The Outsider novel by Albert Camus from an existentialist view. I want to study Meursault relations who is the main character in Albert Camus’s novel The Outsider , Meursault is being executed because he kills an arab person, but the main reason is that he does not cry at his mother’ funeral and lives his life as there is nothing happened, he goes in the next day to swim and he makes love with his friend Marie and also watch a film. The philosophers and critics considers Meursault as he is