Free Essays on The Stranger

In â€Å"The Stranger† Albert Camus portrays the world as without purpose. Meaursalt, who as a reflection of Camus is indifferent to his own life and death. Meaursalt eventually senses guilt for his crime, but not because he feels remorse for taking a life, but because he realized he would lose the little things he considered most important. The weather had made Meursault kill the Arab. The brightness of the sun caused him to pull the trigger and fire the shot that would change not only the outcome of the story, but also Meursault’s life. Because of the outburst of sunlight, Meursault was momentarily overwhelmed and his reaction was to tense up and, in doing so, he pulled the trigger of his gun. If it had been raining or overcast, Meursault would not have killed the Arab. Meursault doesn't want to kill the Arab, he even considers turning back and leaving the Arab alone. â€Å"It occurred to me that all I had to do was turn around and that would be the end of it. But th e whole beach, throbbing in the sun, was pressing on my back† (Camus 58). Meursault kills the Arab because of the sunlight’s effect on him causing physical pain which jolts him into committing a violent act. The sun was a symbol for feeling and emotion, which Meursault could not deal with. The sun was present all throughout the book. The sun was a distraction for Meursault which he could not handle. To Meursault, the sun is an influence on all his senses, as he cannot hear what someone else says to him. Meursault constantly thinks about the sun when one would expect him to be mourning the death of his mother.Meursault has shown no emotion towards his mother's death and he directs his bottled up anxiety at the sun. The sun forces Meursault to fire and kill the Arab with a revolver. What makes it worse, he fires four more times to make sure the sun is gone for good. The shooting of the Arab was a complete opening to gradual self awareness for Meursault. â€Å"My whole b... Free Essays on The Stranger Free Essays on The Stranger The Stranger The novel, â€Å"The Stranger†, written by Albert Camus is about one man’s life. The main character and the author, Meursalt, gives every detail and thought throughout the novel. He portrays himself as a person who doesn’t seem to care about much, yet he is a hero. Meursalt shows his heroic traits when he stands up for his friend, stands up for what he believes in, and always tells the truth. When Meursalt’s neighbor and friend, Raymond, gets into a fight with an Arab, Meursalt helps him with advice and physical fighting, without even thinking twice about it. To help anything serious from happening to his friend, Meursalt says, â€Å"Right. But if he doesn’t draw his knife, then you can’t shoot.† Meursalt even takes Raymond’s gun from him and says that he would shoot the Arab if the Arab pulled his knife on him. Without even thinking about it, Meursalt says that he would basically take the fall for shooting the Arab. Another way to show that Meursalt is a hero, is when he stands up for what he believes in. At the end of the novel when the chaplain comes to Meursalt’s cell to talk to him about God, he says, â€Å"Why haven’t you come to see me? I said that I didn’t believe in God. He wanted to know if I was sure and I said that I didn’t see any reason to ask myself that question: it seemed unimportant.† After that the chaplain continues to question Meursalt, insisting that he must believe in God. But Meursalt stands very strongly on what he believes in. Just like in the movie, Braveheart, the main character played by Mel Gibson is forced with a question on what he believes in. He is to lie and say he has a king, which they would kill him quick, or stand up for what he believes in by saying no, and they would torture him until he dies. He chose to stand up for what he believes in, just like Meursalt. Finally, Meursalt shows how he is a hero, by telling the truth all the time. Throughout... Free Essays on The Stranger In â€Å"The Stranger† Albert Camus portrays the world as without purpose. Meaursalt, who as a reflection of Camus is indifferent to his own life and death. Meaursalt eventually senses guilt for his crime, but not because he feels remorse for taking a life, but because he realized he would lose the little things he considered most important. The weather had made Meursault kill the Arab. The brightness of the sun caused him to pull the trigger and fire the shot that would change not only the outcome of the story, but also Meursault’s life. Because of the outburst of sunlight, Meursault was momentarily overwhelmed and his reaction was to tense up and, in doing so, he pulled the trigger of his gun. If it had been raining or overcast, Meursault would not have killed the Arab. Meursault doesn't want to kill the Arab, he even considers turning back and leaving the Arab alone. â€Å"It occurred to me that all I had to do was turn around and that would be the end of it. But th e whole beach, throbbing in the sun, was pressing on my back† (Camus 58). Meursault kills the Arab because of the sunlight’s effect on him causing physical pain which jolts him into committing a violent act. The sun was a symbol for feeling and emotion, which Meursault could not deal with. The sun was present all throughout the book. The sun was a distraction for Meursault which he could not handle. To Meursault, the sun is an influence on all his senses, as he cannot hear what someone else says to him. Meursault constantly thinks about the sun when one would expect him to be mourning the death of his mother.Meursault has shown no emotion towards his mother's death and he directs his bottled up anxiety at the sun. The sun forces Meursault to fire and kill the Arab with a revolver. What makes it worse, he fires four more times to make sure the sun is gone for good. The shooting of the Arab was a complete opening to gradual self awareness for Meursault. â€Å"My whole b... Free Essays on The Stranger The Stranger For Camus, freedom arises in awareness of one’s life, the every-moment life, an intense glorious life that needs no redeeming, no regrets, no tears. Death is unjustifiable, absurd; it is but a reintegration into the cosmos for a "free" man. Until a person reaches this awareness, life, like death, is absurd, and indeed, generically, life remains absurd, though each individual’s life can be valuable and meaningful to him. In a sense, The Stranger is a parable of Camus’ philosophy, with emphasis on that which is required for freedom. Meursault, hero of The Stranger, is not a person one would be apt to meet in reality in this respect; Meursault does not achieve the awakening of consciousness, so essential to freedom and to living Camus’ philosophy until the very end of the book, yet he has lived his entire life in according with the morality of Camus’ philosophy. His equivalent in the Christian philosophy would be an irreligious person whose homeland has never encountered Christianity who, upon having it explained by a missionary, realizes he has never sinned. What is the morality, the qualities necessary for freedom, which Meursault manifested? First, the ruling trait of his character is his passion for the absolute truth. While in Meursault this takes the form of a truth of being and feeling, it is still the truth necessary to the conquest of the self or of the world. This passion is so profound that it obtains even when denying it might save his life. Second, and not unrelated to the first, is Meursault’s acceptance of nature as what it is and nothing more, his rejection of the supernatural, including any god. Actually, "rejection" of God is not accurate until later when he is challenged to accept the concept; Meursault simply has never considered God and religion worthwhile pursuing. The natural makes sense; the supernatural doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t. It follows that death to Meursault also is what it is naturally; the end... Free Essays on The Stranger In The Stranger, by Albert Camus the character Meursault, who is the book's narrator and main character is very detached, and unemotional. He does not think much about events or their consequences, and he doesn’t express feeling in relationships or at emotional times. He displays a un-intrest if you will throughout the book by his reactions to the people and events described in the book. After his mother's death he didn’t cry or show any emotion on the subject at all. He shows limited feelings for his girlfriend, Marie Cardona, and shows no remorse at all for killing an Arab. He is called â€Å"the stranger† because of his reactions to life and to people. Despite this behavior of his, there is a young woman who seems to want to have a relationship with Meursault and a neighbor who wants a friendship. Meursault rarely shows any feeling when in situations, which would, for most people, create strong emotions. Throughout the vigil, and at her funeral, he never crie s. He’d rather enjo! y a cup of coffee with milk during the vigil, and have a smoke with a caretaker at the nursing home where his mother died. The following day, after his mother's funeral, he goes to the beach and meets Marie Cardona. They swim, go to a movie, and then spend the night together. Later in their relationship, Marie asks Meursault if he wants to marry her. Once again he shows a blatant amount of emotion by responding that it doesn't matter to him, and if she wants to get married, he wouldn’t abject. Then she takes an even bigger shot in the dark and asks him if he loves her. And he responds that he probably doesn't, and says that marriage really isn't such a serious thing and that it doesn't really need love. This reaction is well to say the least, typical of Meursault. He is casual and indifferent about life events. Nothing is very significant to him. Later on in the book, after he kills an Arab, not once does he show any remorse or guilt for what he did.... Free Essays on The Stranger An Exploration of â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus The Stranger is a book of many facets and meanings most of which are not immediately apparent. In fact without in depth analysis the entire point of the book is easily missed. The manner of story telling in The Stranger is unique and at first hard to come to grips with. It is not the story which is especially complex but the manner in which it is told. It is done by a narrator. In his telling of his tale he neglects to mention several important aspects of his internal state, (which after a great deal of speculation seems to be what the book is really about). One soon learns that it is exactly that which is most important for complete understanding of the book, which is so carefully omitted. But, these features are not completely forgotten about, they are implied and inferred creating the need for careful analysis. For example, Camus himself, on the back cover of the book says the book is an exploration of â€Å"the nakedne ss of man faced with the absurd†; at first glance this book seems to have an almost unhealthy lack of the absurd and Camus’ statement seems meaningless. That is until the book as a whole is explored and one realizes that the lack of such is exactly what is absurd. This simple leap of thought, if the conclusion is correct is precisely the key to understanding The Stranger. It forces one to read between and even through the lines in a search for understanding, one comes to see that that which remains unwritten is the most important thing to read in this particular novel. The story begins with the death of the central character, Mersault’s, mother. That is in fact the first line of the book, the statement of this fact. It is the deadpan and uncaring manner of this statement that alerts the reader to the fact that this will be a different kind of book. The narrator never says that he is not overly distraught over his mother’s death, but it is implied through t he lan... Free Essays on The Stranger The Stranger It was a dark and stormy night. I was just about to go to bed and suddenly there was a knock on the door. Startled, I was reluctant to open the door but I gained enough courage and slowly opened it. It was my mom. In awe, I invited her in, wondering why she was out at such an hour. We sat for an hour and talked about a couple of unusual topics such as death and what happens after a person dies. When I asked her why she was talking about these subjects, she replied that my father visited her about an hour and a half before she arrived. She said that he had told her that there is no such thing as Heaven or Hell, but instead the souls of the people who die are doomed to roam the earth looking for a way out of this fate. I tried to explain to her that that is impossible, for my dad passed away almost three years ago, but my mother, being stubborn as usual, refused to believe me. I fixed up a snack for her at about 1:30 because she looked a little pale, but she refused to eat any of it. We talked for an hour or so more and finally she told me that she better get going. On her way out she told me to how proud she was of me and that she loved me with all her heart. About ten minutes later, after I just was about to fall asleep, the phone rang ((((Ring, Ring)))) ((((Ring, Ring)))). Angered, I answered and a strange voice said â€Å" Hello, Mr. Parker? I am sorry to bother you at this time of night but I couldn’t find any information on who to contact in case of an emergency. I am very sorry to inform you but your mother had a heart attack and died at about 10:56 last night.† The End... Free Essays on The Stranger An Exploration of â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus The Stranger is a book of many facets and meanings most of which are not immediately apparent. In fact without in depth analysis the entire point of the book is easily missed. The manner of story telling in The Stranger is unique and at first hard to come to grips with. It is not the story which is especially complex but the manner in which it is told. It is done by a narrator. In his telling of his tale he neglects to mention several important aspects of his internal state, (which after a great deal of speculation seems to be what the book is really about). One soon learns that it is exactly that which is most important for complete understanding of the book, which is so carefully omitted. But, these features are not completely forgotten about, they are implied and inferred creating the need for careful analysis. For example, Camus himself, on the back cover of the book says the book is an exploration of â€Å"the nakedness of man faced with the absurd†; at first glance this book seems to have an almost unhealthy lack of the absurd and Camus’ statement seems meaningless. That is until the book as a whole is explored and one realizes that the lack of such is exactly what is absurd. This simple leap of thought, if the conclusion is correct is precisely the key to understanding The Stranger. It forces one to read between and even through the lines in a search for understanding, one comes to see that that which remains unwritten is the most important thing to read in this particular novel. The story begins with the death of the central character, Mersault’s, mother. That is in fact the first line of the book, the statement of this fact. It is the deadpan and uncaring manner of this statement that alerts the reader to the fact that this will be a different kind of book. The narrator never says that he is not overly distraught over his mother’s death, but it is implied through the l...