Comparing Camus The Stranger And Sartre's No Exit

Why is there a need for a title? To follow societal norms of writing a paper. However, the truth of the matter, is that there is no such thing as a normal person, a normal life, or a normal way of writing a paper. The concept of normalcy is artificial, a mere social construct based on popular opinion and the judgement of the influential, which deems anything otherwise as immoral or absurd. Literary works, such as Camus’ The Stranger and Sartre’s No Exit, allow us to reexamine our concepts of life and death with an existentialist mindset. Merriam-Webster defines Existentialism as a philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines, but centering on analysis of individual existence and the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will (“Existentialism”). It has seven key concepts, namely, absurdity, anxiety, alienation, existence precedes …show more content…
However, these are overlapping concepts and for the purpose of this paper would be simplified into two, specifically, absurdity, and freedom and choice. Absurdity is “the quality or state of being ridiculous or wildly unreasonable”
(“Absurdity”). It is the attempt of man to give order to a meaningless and irrational world. Standards and norms are set in order to have a systematic way of living and interacting with one another which, based on a psychological article, we are greatly influenced by and naturally conform with. The Stranger illustrates the absurdity of life through the life of its protagonist, Meursault. The rationalization of human actions and life, through the setting of standards and societal norms, is pointless and futile. The manner of living does not change the inevitable fact that we will all eventually die. Camus presents us an atypical man, who, unlike most of us, lives from day-to-day and is more attuned to his senses rather than his emotions. Meursault’s divergent personality manifests throughout the story and is highlighted in times of high