Meursault As An Absurd Hero In Albert Camus's The Stranger

Inside Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Camus portrays Meursault as an absurd hero. Meursault was attached to the physical world, and he was different from a normal individual. Meursault would have a direct impact from the “shimmering heat” (17) of the sun, which ultimately caused him to “squeeze his hand around [his] revolver” (59) and kill an Arab. As a result, Meursault had to live in jail, and he had to change his routine. He would spend “sixteen to eighteen hours a day” (79) sleeping, and his time would pass slowly. At the end, Meursault was given a death sentence because of his murder. In order for Camus to portray Meursault as this absurd hero, it was essential for him to demonstrate his unsympathetic character. In The Stranger, Camus characterizes …show more content…
Meursault and Marie “would have lunch together” (35), swim together, and watch movies together. Meursault had become physically attached to Marie, yet he was not emotionally attached to Marie. Meursault felt that Marie’s “tan made her face look like a flower” (34), and he would feel attracted towards Marie’s laugh. Camus uses a simile to emphasize on Marie’s physical beauty. Camus compares Marie’s tanned face to a flower in order to indicate Meursault’s physical attachment towards Marie. Meursault tends to admire the beauty of nature, and Camus creates a link between Marie’s beauty and nature, which demonstrates that Meursault admires Marie’s physical beauty. Camus also creates a change inside his style of writing by using a lyrical tone. Camus tends to use a lyrical tone whenever Meursault is near Marie in order to reinforce Meursault’s physical attachment towards Marie. Yet, when Marie asked Meursault if he loved her, Meursault replied by saying “it didn’t mean anything but [he] didn’t think so” (35). The phrase “didn’t mean anything” emphasizes Meursault’s emotional detachment from Marie, which suggests his nonchalance towards Marie’s relationship. Camus also reinforces Meursault’s indifference by repeating the word “didn’t”. The repetition of this word creates an apathetic tone, which exemplifies Meursault’s unsympathetic …show more content…
Raymond was “not very popular” (28), but Meursault was still “interested” (28) in Raymond’s speech. Meursault also joined Raymond for “some blood sausage and some wine” (28), despite Raymond’s unpopularity. When Raymond started to tell Meursault his story about how he “kneed…and slugged [a guy] a couple of times”, Meursault agreed with Raymond’s actions. Camus uses the word “kneed” and “slugged” in order to exemplify the intensity of Raymond’s violent attacks. Camus uses the phrase “couple of times” in order to increase the severity of Raymond’s attacks. This indicates that Meursault is not a friendly person; in fact, he is a violent person. Meursault agrees with Raymond’s actions, despite the cruelty within his actions. This demonstrates that Meursault is uncompassionate because he is in agreement with Raymond’s actions. Thereafter, Raymond “wanted [Meursault] to write [his mistress] a letter” (32), which would “make her sorry for what she’s done” (32). Meursault agreed to write the letter for Raymond, and he wanted to please Raymond because he “didn’t have any reason not to please him” (32). The word “please” signifies that Meursault was not concerned about the unethicalness of Raymond’s actions; he was solely concerned about pleasing Raymond. Meursault is indifferent towards the unscrupulous actions of Raymond, and he chooses to write the letter for Meursault, even though he does not even know the