Albert Camus Isolation

Albert Camus wrote both The Stranger and The Guest. The protagonist’s in both stories are similar because they are both isolated from society. Meursault and Daru isolate themselves from society. In the Stranger, Meursault is an absurdist and does not care to conform to the societal norms and because he does not conform to society he becomes isolated and a stranger in his own country. One way Meursault does not conform to society is during his mother’s funeral procession, when Meursault says, “The glare from the sun was unbearable” (“The Stranger” 16). The glare of the sun hurt him more than his own mother’s death. Another example would be when he “decided to go to the public beach for a swim” right after his mother is buried (“The Stranger” …show more content…
He is content with his isolation. For example, Camus describes Daru as “a monk in his remote schoolhouse, nonetheless satisfied with the little he had and with the rough life, had felt like a lord” (“The Guest” 2). Meursault further isolates himself by “knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (“The Stranger” 59). His actions isolate him because he goes on to jail where he realizes that the beliefs that he has before he commits a crime was all wrong and that he cannot reverse his actions. Daru further isolates himself by taking the Arab to Tinguit. Like Meursault, Daru isolates himself by taking the Arab to the police headquarters and leaves the one person that could have been a companion to him. When he gets home he realizes that “in this vast landscape he had loved so much, he was alone” (“The Guest 11”). Daru and Meursault live in Algeria where there is a conflict between the French and Arab. Meursault has to choose between killing the Arab or not and Daru has to choose to turn in the Arab or not. In a way, society is trying to get the two protagonists to choose a side and the choices that both protagonists choose lead them to prisons or their