Meursault As An Outsider In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

Everyone, at some point in their lives, has felt like an outsider. They feel somehow disconnected from everyone else, whether it was based on gender, race or religion. That feeling of isolation and detachment is constantly seen throughout literature. Specifically, in Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, Meursault is a stranger to society, himself, and his natural environment because he is psychologically and emotional detached.
It never occurs to Meursault that he may be different than anyone else, but throughout the novel, Meursault begins to realize that he actually is not like the rest of society. Meursault says, “…I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate” (Stranger 123). Meursault, at the beginning of the novel felt like a part of society, but once he had been through imprisonment and trials, he began to realize that he has views that are very different from societies norms, the “cries of hate” would solidify the fact that he really is a stranger from society. Meursault writes,”…Maman was buried now… really nothing had changed” (Stranger 24), further contributing to the argument that …show more content…
The idea of alienation is Camus’ way of expressing his existentialist philosophy to the reader. The purpose of the novel is to show that nothing really matters. For example, the concept of justice, which is implied by society, is challenged by Meursault when he murders an Arab and does not see the wrongness in doing so. Camus uses Meursault as a representation of his philosophy, and the final scene of the novel is a representation of Meursault’s enlightenment as he fully embraces the existentialist view and dies. Camus’ commentary on society is based on the idea that we follow the same beliefs and that when someone has different beliefs; he is viewed as a stranger and is condemned by