Sunday, October 5, 2014

Is Camus all Sunshine and Rainbows?

Wouldn't embracing existentialism naturally yield conflict? You're challenging the bedrock of humanity's identity: people are going to push against you. Hard.

Yet,  In 'The Stranger,' Albert Camus portrays Meursault as living an easy, care-free life in Part I. No one gets in his face as we would expect until he breaks the law: is that the only line that cannot be crossed?

Up to that point, Meursault was living a fine life with no real enemies. I understand that being free from social constructs can liberate, but where is the opposition to Meursault's upheaval of social conventions?

He seems to get by too easily…

2 comments:

  1. This is a good point. Some people may think he's a little off, but no one ever persecutes him for these actions until he kills someone. In fact, a lot of people appreciate him, and those who think he's a little off almost take advantage of it by partaking in their own strange customs.

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  2. I never thought about it that way. It's really interesting that he wasn't challenged until part 2.

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