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Introduction
At some point, nobody could know a character could feel so isolated. While studying the novel- The stranger by Albert Camus, the only thing a reader can tend to ought about is the absurd way Meursault view the world. In the case of Meursault, irrational means repeated indifferent reactions to what would generally consider as emotional actions (Camus 4). Throughout the fiction, Meursault’s actions are strange and detached from what one familiarized to experiencing in life. Meursault acted so indifferently and thus far was able to feel positive emotions towards the experienced futile circumstances in after the trials.
Similarly, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus tends to better the concept of absurdism and existentialism (Camus 3). The two contexts are comparable in content, although dissimilar in style of explaining the meaning. The Myth of Sisyphus describes in detail the concept of absurdism. While The Stranger features a character, Meursault, personified as the core of absurd or even indifferent man. The essay outlines the daily life of Meursault’s mediocre everyday life through; the funeral of Mammas, relationship life with Marie, the murder of the Arab.
Meursault’s Indifferent His Mother Funeral
In the novel, Camus decodes Meursault as a person who is emotionally and spiritually isolated from society. Meursault celebrates in the physical aspects of personal existence, swimming, thoughts of nature, the lusty feelings for ladies, including Marie, in general, and obsessive detail. After traveling to Marengo to attend the burial of Maman, Meursault becomes less with mourn at the loss of his mother, thus tend to believe that grief is pointless since he is an atheist and existentialist. In such a case, Meursault does not concern his life with traditional emotions and norms instead;, he is concerned about the physical world centering him and respective interactions with such world. The Meursault’s absurdism is well illustrated when comparing the statement stating, “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 3). Upon receiving the message about his Maman’s death, Meursault does not indicate any emotion in respect to his mother’s death. However, he is more concerned about the telegram, not telling him exactly the occurrence of the end. The indifferent trait of Meursault exemplified in the song of Pink Floyd, which states that “Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain.” In such a case, Meursault is tired of waiting for the information on when his mother died.
Throughout the funeral proceedings, Meursault tends to spend a lot of the time unfolding both the oppressive heat of the sun and the nature pleasantries. Meursault uses long and descriptive passages that portray his indifference behavior and meaningless of life. As seen when he sits vigil for his mother, remarking, “It was pleasant; the coffee had warmed me up, and the smell of flowers on the night air was coming through the open door. I think I dozed off for a while” (Camus, 9). In his indifference, he allows the weather and the surroundings dictate his behavior, thus tend to showcase a lack of personal motivation and active participation in the dynamic nature of immediate environment along with little taste for individual choices, shifting his altitude grounded on the method of least resistance. Similarly, Kid Cudi displays the same behavior when he sings, “I’m doing just what I want, looking ahead, no turning back” in the song Pursuit of Happiness. He also chooses to live his different version of life, such as driving drunk and disregarding any advice from the people around him.
Meursault Love Relationship with Marie
When it comes to love, Meursault has an altitude that is very different from other people in society. He believes that love does not mean anything but that he did not think” (Camus 35) he loved Marie. Marie becomes very sad by Meursault’s statement and feels that he does not care about her love life at all. Marie does not know that her partner is not like other people. in other words, Meursault has no views on the concept of love and does not label his feelings towards Marie. Later on, Meursault’s partner asks him if he will be in a position to marry her. Meursault replied, “it does not make any difference to him and that they could if she wanted to” (Camus 41). Meursault says he could marry Marie just to please her, by doing what pleases her, he is compliant and doing what others want him to do. Absurd Meursault does not do anything to create personal capability; instead goes with the flow of what other people surrounding him expect. Such kind of character relates in the Pink Floyd song, where the artist states that “…waiting for someone or something to show you the way.” By analyzing the statement, the characters depend upon the decision made by other people to live.
Sisyphus and Meursault Relationship to Nature
Upon studying the two novels- The Stranger and the Myth of Sisyphus, there is a similarity between Meursault and Sisyphus concerning nature. The physical relationship of Sisyphus with the immediate world is seen through his real interaction with the environment. The primary pleasure that Sisyphus felt before his punishment period tended to revolve around the beauty of the “curve of the gulf, the sparkling sea, and the smiles of the earth” (Camus 88). When Sisyphus was commended for rolling the boulder for his entire life, he had the capability of finding some meaning of life and happiness through connection with nature once again. For the first time sighted that “each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world.” (Camus 89). Sisyphus has finally accepted the hopelessness of his condition–the world created firstly as a punishment for him regardless of spending his last days in comfort.
Correspondingly, Meursault’s life revolves mostly around his association with the sun. Throughout the book, numerous of his negatively alleged activities happen on Sunday or even when the sun is shining brightly. When Meursault was on the beach with Arab, all he had to avert the murder was turn around, “but the whole beach, pulsing with heat, was pressing on his back,”(Camus 58). Therefore, Meursault was under the control of nature and unable to move away from it. Throughout the trial, Meursault states, “tried to explain to the jury that it was because of the sun” that he had killed the man that day, but that the idea was too “absurd” for lawyers to comprehend. Similarly, like Sisyphus, when Meursault was judged to a prison cell before the execution, Sisyphus labeled the beauty of nature, stating that “the stars were shining down on his face. Sounds of the countryside came faintly in, and the cool night air, veined with smells of earth and salt, fanned his cheeks.” (Camus 59).
To some extent, the sun manages to make Meursault feel contradicting reactions. Sometimes Meursault feels comfort and some other time fury. Therefore, the contradicting emotions are the most potent symbols of absurdism in the fiction.
Meursault’s indifference in Killing Arab
Moreover, in the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault is sent to trial to murder an Arab. In killing examination, the prosecution persuades the judges that Meursault is a cold-blooded murderer, which does not seem to be genuinely founded on how Meursault acts in the novel. The trial labels Meursault as a killer as well as “an abyss threatening to swallow up society” (Camus 101). The statement is greatly imprecise and grounded on the prosecution’s impress of Meursault’s character from the shreds of evidence on his actions after the passing of Maman. Meursault is a typically usual person. He likes sex, swimming, eating, drinking, and smoking. The only strange thing about Meursault is emotional detachment from the world and meaningless of life, which is what the judge confounded for soullessness. Even though the trial was inaccurate, the ruling Meursault received was too severe, the prosecution was still just. Regardless of prosecution truth, the trial constantly erected evidence around the concept that Meursault is “Satan.” The reason is that Meursault had killed the only eyewitness to his crime; the lawyer was forced to look to other actions in the life of Meursault that could deliver background of the crime. Pink Floyd expresses the cruel murder of Meursault in the song Time when “I don’t care, hand on the wheel.” In other words, the character is emotionless in the issues of life.
Conclusion
Meursault’s indifference attitude and the absurd idea of life is shown throughout the novel. Finally, Meursault is at peace with his mind and what pertains to his personal life. The character eventually comes to harmony and understanding of the interwoven nature of his personality and reality — the head of Meursault roll. His life quenched out. A life complete and Actualized. All the situations are because Meursault concealed no false hopes, no desperate strivings since he made an understated covenant with the death that will eventually return every person to the earth was created from.
In summary, Meursault does not see any sense in people’s actions and believes that they die and leave the world the same as it was before their existence. Also, he shows indifference by his failure to show emotions after his mother’s death. Such aspects can be connected to songs, Time by Pink Floyd and Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi, which despise people’s actions while on earth and insist on doing things their way, respectively.
Works Cited
Camus, Albert. The stranger. New York: Vintage International. 1989, Print.
Camus, Albert. The myth of Sisyphus. Penguin UK, 2013.
“Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi.
“Time” by Pink Floyd.