Symbolism In The Stranger By Albert Camus

Absurdism is defined as “the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any” (Absurdism). Albert Camus’ The Stranger exemplifies the Absurdist point of view, as shown by the main character Meursault and the world he lives in. Meursault, though never voicing these exact words, lives in a chaotic world that is indifferent to human plight, so he decides to do what he wants to do to make himself satisfied. The only insight on Meursault’s life that the reader has is his own account written in first person. He has shown himself to be a simple man in regards to the response he demonstrates to the people he associates with. However, Camus wrote other characters into the novel …show more content…
Marie symbolizes Meursault when he was younger because of her emotions and passions. Camus never wrote much about Meursault’s life when he was younger, which would be before the first events of the book take place. However, there are a few lines in the reading that show that Meursault was not always without a sense of meaning in his life. Meursault’s life changed when he had to “give up” his studies and learned that “none of it really mattered,” causing him to lose his ambition (Camus 41). Something may have happened to have caused him to begin thinking like this, or he could have realized that he was searching for his importance of his life in the world and found none. He also used to have “lots of ambitions” when he was younger, but he is now satisfied with staying in one place and doing the same thing (Camus 41). Marie shows a desire to get married to Meursault and …show more content…
Both begin to broaden their thinking when they are facing death (Sparknote Editors). Meursault’s Maman had “never in her life given a thought to religion,” but specified a religious burial (Camus 6). She became more open to the thought of religion, but only at the end of her life. Meursault believes that his mother “must have felt free then and ready to live it all again,” so he “felt ready to live it all again too” (Camus 122). The prospect of impending death acted as a release for Meursault and Maman to finally understand that there was another approach to life. Meursault realized that “a dark wind” had been rising toward him from “somewhere deep” in his future, and, when he eventually accepted “the gentle indifference of the world,” finally finds peace (Camus 121, 122). He had to accept the idea that the rest of the world did not care about anyone in particular. His life up until this point was meaningless because he will not leave an impact on the world. Forced to come to terms with the fact that they were not too far away from their deaths, Meursault and his Maman began to think differently and more openly about their lives and the