Albert Camus’ The Stranger is a brilliantly written novel that shows what it truly means to make one’s own decisions. This existentialistic novel emphasizes the power of choice and what it means to take full responsibility for one’s own actions. The main character Meursault illustrates how one who lives his life day by day by simply understanding the power of choice can be labeled as a true individual. True freedom of choice can challenge a society’s moral expectations. However, for that reason Camus chooses to portray this freedom with a decision as intense as choosing to pull a trigger or not. When Meursault states: “One might fire, or not fire—and it would come to absolutely the same thing,” he is beginning to understand that he has the
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When “The sun glinted on Raymond’s revolver” as he handed it back to Meursault, one can see how the fact that the sun glinted on the revolver was purposely done to emphasize on how Raymond chooses to let go of any responsibility. Sensory imagery is used to visualize how all attention is put upon the weapon to portray that at that moment that revolver can either be harmful or harmless depending on what the beholder chooses to do. This visualization emphasizes the significance of a decision. Then when Meursault explains that Raymond and he could only watch each other as the “world seemed to come to a standstill” one can again feel the intensity of making a decision through the use of personification and visual imagery. The world is personified to “standstill” because even the world seems to feel Meursault’s alienation towards the world and how decisions as powerful as shooting a gun or not can be made based on what an individual decides to do. It is an intense moment that makes it seem as if the world stopped just to focus on the two men who realize the capabilities of their own choices. It seems as if everyone, including the loud reed and stream is aware of the fact that pulling the trigger is all it takes to end a person’s life. The silence is also focused on the two men. Then at that moment Meursault makes an interesting connection; he states that one could pull the trigger or not pull the trigger and it would come …show more content…
Camus uses Meursault’s alienated character to force the reader to understand that society has forced certain expectations into everyone’s judgements. For this reason Camus chooses to use a powerful moral conflict that shows that all choices, regardless of the severity, can be taken with the same consideration as long as one is willing to hold up to the consequences of a decision. It is clear that when Meursault states: “I fired four shots more into the inert body…And each successive shot was another loud, fateful rap on the door of my undoing,” he is fully aware of the act he is performing, but he continues to shoot because he is willing to take responsibility for his actions. The diction used to emphasize each shot that will open the door to his “undoing” demonstrates that Meursault understands the laws and regulations, but the intensity of the situation does not matter because in the end he still just made a choice. Albert Camus uses Meursault’s action to once again illustrate how “One might fire, or not fire—and it would come to absolutely the same thing” (72). Overall, this existentialist novel illustrates the power of choice and what it means to take full responsibility for one’s own
When “The sun glinted on Raymond’s revolver” as he handed it back to Meursault, one can see how the fact that the sun glinted on the revolver was purposely done to emphasize on how Raymond chooses to let go of any responsibility. Sensory imagery is used to visualize how all attention is put upon the weapon to portray that at that moment that revolver can either be harmful or harmless depending on what the beholder chooses to do. This visualization emphasizes the significance of a decision. Then when Meursault explains that Raymond and he could only watch each other as the “world seemed to come to a standstill” one can again feel the intensity of making a decision through the use of personification and visual imagery. The world is personified to “standstill” because even the world seems to feel Meursault’s alienation towards the world and how decisions as powerful as shooting a gun or not can be made based on what an individual decides to do. It is an intense moment that makes it seem as if the world stopped just to focus on the two men who realize the capabilities of their own choices. It seems as if everyone, including the loud reed and stream is aware of the fact that pulling the trigger is all it takes to end a person’s life. The silence is also focused on the two men. Then at that moment Meursault makes an interesting connection; he states that one could pull the trigger or not pull the trigger and it would come …show more content…
Camus uses Meursault’s alienated character to force the reader to understand that society has forced certain expectations into everyone’s judgements. For this reason Camus chooses to use a powerful moral conflict that shows that all choices, regardless of the severity, can be taken with the same consideration as long as one is willing to hold up to the consequences of a decision. It is clear that when Meursault states: “I fired four shots more into the inert body…And each successive shot was another loud, fateful rap on the door of my undoing,” he is fully aware of the act he is performing, but he continues to shoot because he is willing to take responsibility for his actions. The diction used to emphasize each shot that will open the door to his “undoing” demonstrates that Meursault understands the laws and regulations, but the intensity of the situation does not matter because in the end he still just made a choice. Albert Camus uses Meursault’s action to once again illustrate how “One might fire, or not fire—and it would come to absolutely the same thing” (72). Overall, this existentialist novel illustrates the power of choice and what it means to take full responsibility for one’s own