Although Camus insisted that The Stranger was not purely an existentialist novel, existentialist views are clearly present through out the book. In class, we discussed that the key to living in the existentialist way was to reject all social constructs and live under one's own complete control. Accepting that life is meaningless and full of random suffering.
Meursault can be seen as living an existentialist life. He rejects all social systems and lives life the way he wants to. He takes on an indifferent personality and believes there is no meaning to anything. If Camus is trying to show Meursault as living a good existentialist life, then he has succeeded, but if he wants to convince others that this is a better way to live then he picked the wrong poster child.
While parts of Meursault's life can seem appealing, like his lack of worry about anything, other parts of his life are lacking. Through his existentialist life, Meursault has befriended a suspicious neighbor who beats his mistress and agrees to act as a witness on his behalf. He agrees to marry a women even after he says he doesn't love her. He looses a job offer because he shows no drive or gratitude. He ends up in jail and on trial for shooting a man who he does not know five times for no reason. A life that includes all this does not seem to be one that someone would choose to live.
Although I am judging Meursault's life as someone who is affected by social constructs, Meursualt's life is still unappealing. I think most people would chose to live where they are happy instead of having bad things happen to them like Meursault, even if it meant giving up some control of their life. If Camus wanted existentialism to seem appealing to people whose lives are affected by systems, Meursault's life is not a good example.
You had me at "he picked the wrong poster child" :)
ReplyDeleteI think that it is true that in our shoes, the immediate reaction to Meursault's character is that he is bad and in no way admirable for all of the reasons listed above. However, I believe what Camus is demonstrating through him is how Meursault is able to be content no matter his situation. All the time spent in jail doesn't really detract from his happiness because he is able to just sleep and remember the fun times he had/read a story. It certainly isn't the most appealing life, but I don't think Camus was necessarily trying to portray it as a guide to living. It is more a way to demonstrate how being an existentialist works, and how it doesn't necessarily mean a person is cold and heartless, but rather worldly and adaptive. That's all.
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