A novel that captivates its readers and incorporates a variety of literary styles that attracts every type of reader, The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, is a book that continues to take on different interpretations. Revolved around the life of the main character, Meursault, the book expands the perspectives of the meaning and purpose of life through the everyday experiences and the complex yet seemingly simple plot. The scholarly article written by Michael D. Sollars in "The Stranger." explores the belief that absurdity is portrayed in the character of Meursault by describing specific examples in the novel in support. Another critique named R.W.B Lewis who wrote an article called, “Albert Camus 's Style and Critique of Tragedy,” dives
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Albert Camus incorporates his point of view on how absurdism is “defined as the painful awareness of the great divide between how one thinks the world should be and how it actually is,” through one of his companion essays published the same year as the The Stranger called, “The Myth of Sisyphus.” In Sollars’ critique about the overall novel and his interpretation from it, he dives deep into the underlying absurdity found within Meursault 's personality. He explained the feeling of indifference that Meursault experiences throughout the book such as the instances when Maria asks him if he loves her and he answers with “It doesn’t mean anything,” which he continues to repeat throughout the novel. One conspicuous example of his feeling of detachment from people and of society is when he hears the news that his mother died and he says, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 1). This opening sentence of the book embodies his absurd outlook on life by portraying his disconcern and emotionless attitude towards the news of his mother’s …show more content…
In his writing, Foley explains one strong point on the absurdity in the main character in a psychological point of view. “...if we shift our attention from the often obscure psychology of Meursault and consider the novel 's depiction of Meursault 's confrontation with society as a whole in the context of the absurd...Adjusting the focus of our reading of the novel in this way, away from Meursault and onto the depiction of his relationship with society in general, our attention is drawn to events surrounding two central points in the novel: the wake and funeral of Meursault 's mother and, especially, Meursault 's trial”(Foley). Foley introduces the main events of the wake and the funeral of his Meursault 's mother where he showed the most conspicuous feelings of absurdity. In these two events, Meursault remains emotionless and indifferent to the people around him who portrayed feelings of sadness and grief over his mother, while he did not. Moreover, Foley also depicts the dishonesty within Meursault, especially pertaining to religion, as he states, “This dishonesty, and the extent to which, for Camus, it is associated with religious belief, becomes apparent early in the novel when Meursault arrives at the retirement home, and the home 's director tells Meursault that his mother "apparently often mentioned to her
Albert Camus incorporates his point of view on how absurdism is “defined as the painful awareness of the great divide between how one thinks the world should be and how it actually is,” through one of his companion essays published the same year as the The Stranger called, “The Myth of Sisyphus.” In Sollars’ critique about the overall novel and his interpretation from it, he dives deep into the underlying absurdity found within Meursault 's personality. He explained the feeling of indifference that Meursault experiences throughout the book such as the instances when Maria asks him if he loves her and he answers with “It doesn’t mean anything,” which he continues to repeat throughout the novel. One conspicuous example of his feeling of detachment from people and of society is when he hears the news that his mother died and he says, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 1). This opening sentence of the book embodies his absurd outlook on life by portraying his disconcern and emotionless attitude towards the news of his mother’s …show more content…
In his writing, Foley explains one strong point on the absurdity in the main character in a psychological point of view. “...if we shift our attention from the often obscure psychology of Meursault and consider the novel 's depiction of Meursault 's confrontation with society as a whole in the context of the absurd...Adjusting the focus of our reading of the novel in this way, away from Meursault and onto the depiction of his relationship with society in general, our attention is drawn to events surrounding two central points in the novel: the wake and funeral of Meursault 's mother and, especially, Meursault 's trial”(Foley). Foley introduces the main events of the wake and the funeral of his Meursault 's mother where he showed the most conspicuous feelings of absurdity. In these two events, Meursault remains emotionless and indifferent to the people around him who portrayed feelings of sadness and grief over his mother, while he did not. Moreover, Foley also depicts the dishonesty within Meursault, especially pertaining to religion, as he states, “This dishonesty, and the extent to which, for Camus, it is associated with religious belief, becomes apparent early in the novel when Meursault arrives at the retirement home, and the home 's director tells Meursault that his mother "apparently often mentioned to her