The Stranger, By Albert Camus

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In “The Stranger”, by Albert Camus, the title refers to Meursault, the protagonist, being a stranger to modernized society. Meursault is seen as a stranger to the audience and his community in the way he carries himself in the public eye. The original version of “The Stranger” was written in French, and the title was “L’Etranger”. Directly translated into English, it means “the foreigner”. In a literal way, it makes sense because Meursault is a Frenchman living in Algeria(which the French had colonized at the time). However, in this case, the foreigner carries the same meaning as the stranger because they both stray away from the norms of society.

Meursault appears unusual to both the audience and the other characters in the book due to his severe lack of emotion. When his mother dies, …show more content…
At the vigil of his mother’s funeral where it is considered rude to drink, sleep, or eat, Meursault carries all of these frowned upon actions. As the cherry on top, he goes on a date the day after his mother’s funeral. Most people would never dare to achieve personal pleasure in difficult times like these. Audiences prefer characters(especially the protagonist) that they can relate to. Camus makes it impossible for the average reader to show any compassion towards Meursault, thanks to his enraging indifference. Like the audience reading the book, the other characters tend to feel the same way towards Meursault. The only exception is Marie, whose reasons for being attracted to Meursault are unclear. Perhaps, Marie remains with Meursault because she is in a hurry to get married. When the court decides to condemn Meursault to death, their decision is impacted by his personality, not his crime. Due to social inequality at the time between the colonized and the colonizers, the court doesn’t care that Meursault killed an

The Stranger, By Albert Camus

Albert Camus released “The Stranger” in 1942. Because Albert grew up during a time of war, you tend to see dark, violent influence on his writing. During this point of time in the book, France invaded Algeria, making it French territory. This meant that the French were superior over the Arabs in Meursault’s city. In the story, Raymond was beating his mistress and was soon released. This is most likely due to the fact that at this time, it was almost alright to beat her because she was both Arab and…

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The Stranger, By Albert Camus

Existentialism is a concept enhancing how a certain character interacts with society and other people. Many criteria's are needed to be accepted in a certain society, depending on how you behave toward people or actions .In “The stranger”, Albert Camus uses syntax to develop the existential character of Meursault, which creates a theme of passivity. Meursault’s passivity influences how people react toward him after his mother’s…

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Mersault's Life In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

A man during an existential crisis may consider that life is meaningless. Just after his time in a prison, Mersault believes, “…That a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison,” (Camus 79). In his situation, Mersault had been in prison for what seemed to be months on end doing nothing but a casual routine, which gave it a boring aspect to it. Since he was an apathetic man, he frequently shows that all he cared for was himself and how he perceived his life in…

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Meursault's Neighbor In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

him as a pimp that lives off women. In his neighborhood, he is not very popular. Camus describes Raymond as “ very sharp” because of his fashionable edge. In “ The Stranger”, Raymond is recognized as abusive, especially towards his girlfriend who he claims is cheating on him. He is clearly a malevolent influence to Meursault specifically because Meursault does not care what is morally right or wrong.. In “ The Stranger”, it states “ But he often talks to me and sometimes stops by my place for a minute…

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Stranger: Sociology and Albert Camus Values Essay

The Stranger – Albert Camus Values & Beliefs This story by Camus was pretty twisted, but I think it had some really good lessons and thoughts throughout it. Meursault was a very abnormal character that Camus introduced us to. But if you look beyond his insensitivity and numbed mind, there are some things that you can learn from him. Even though he acted much differently than society would and expects, he did value something. And that was staying truthful to himself and to others. Even when…

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Honors Students Should Read The Stranger, By Albert Camus

I believe that all Honors students should read The Stranger by Albert Camus. Not only is it extremely well-written, but it also provokes readers to question the impact of society on those who don’t necessarily abide by social norms and expectations. The main character of the novel, Meursault, surprisingly warrants a reader’s sympathy – an emotion one probably would not normally hold for a murderer. The most interesting thing about the novel, in my opinion, is its ability to earnestly critique society’s…

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Myth Of Sisyphus Commentary Essay

Sisyphus happy because he is an absurd hero. Absurdity and Happiness are parallel in both The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. Meursault in The Stranger and Sisyphus in The Myth of Sisyphus are closely related by Camus to connect absurdity and happiness. “The absurd is born out of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world” Albert Camus. Camus says that the universe has no interest or concern for humans so there is predetermined meaning…

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existentialism research paper

important these ideas are illustrated through Albert Camus’ The Stranger, a novel which strongly projects the ideals of Existentialism. Through Camus’ main character Meursault the main ideas of existentialism are highlighted. Soren Kierkegaard is considered the father of the philosophy and has been contributed by many prominent figures, there are many parts of existentialism which have been developed by those same philosophers, and throughout the stranger the many points of Existentialism are displayed…

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World Literature Paper

Metamorphosis and The Stranger One of the most important connections between The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Stranger by Albert Camus is the way the protagonists die at the end of each novel. As a conclusion, Gregor’s death and the way his family handles it have a strikingly powerful effect on the audience. Likewise, the announcement of Meursault’s death by guillotine has a similar effect on the audience’s emotions towards the character. One of the reasons why Kafka and Camus are able to create…

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Alber Camu Stranger Review Essays

Albert Camus The Stranger Review Albert Camus’s Stranger was his one of the first novels which was and still is admired and appreciated all across the world. The short novel tells a story about the main character Meursault and his relationship with the world around him. The first part of the book tells of Meursault mother’s death, his indifference and emotionless state towards the news, Meursault’s love life and his unpredicted and fateful acquaintance with his neighbour. The quiet life of Meursault…

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