Meursault and Happiness

  In the novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, he depicts the absurdity of life. Then, he uses Meursault to show that the only way to be happy in life is to accept this absurdity and rid yourself of all social constructions placed upon you. One way he does this is when Meursault is talking with the chaplain in the last chapter. He says "He wasn't even sure he was alive, because he was living like a dead man" (120). He is arguing that by accepting the social construction of religion, that the chaplain's life isn't worth living because he is living like he is already dead. He then goes on to contrast it with his own life, saying that he was happy and is still happy, unlike the chaplain, who has never been happy.