Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Free Will and the Stranger
The Stranger by Albert Camus is often cited as a text upheld by existential philosophy. Through the diction and lack of finesse Camus reflects the absurdity and normality of our everyday lives. However, in these dry descriptions of life he explores the finality of death and whether we have free will. Free will is the ability to make decisions for ourselves. This is in direct opposition with the societal pressures we face everyday and more importantly the pressure of existence as a whole. Throughout this novel Marsille exercises the only true form of free will we have our thoughts and emotions. He does not bend to the will of desired expectations. For example, he does not feel real sadness when his mother dies. It may be argued that he is a sociopath and there for is a reject from society but he is the expression of the truest free will.
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I agree. Though the lack of emotion Meursault can be viewed as heartless and apathetic, his demeanor can be tied to a bigger theme. For me, it was a bit difficult to get over the jarring indifference that permeates throughout the story, but by analyzing the point of the blog post, it allowed me to see past the emotion and to see how Meursault rebelled against societal norms. Because I was surprised by the character, it shows how he is going against the norms.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think Meursault's lack of emotion is an intentional choice by Camus to prove a point about our society, and what you said here makes sense to me. Though, I feel like it may pan out ot be more complex I think this is accurate to what the author may want us to see in the story.
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