- Meaninglessness of Life and the Absurd. From Meursault’s perspective the world is meaningless, and he repeatedly dismisses other characters’ attempts to make sense of human. ...
- Chance and Interchangeability. ...
- Indifference and Passivity. ...
- Importance of Physical Experience. ...
- Relationships.
What is the message in The Stranger?
Camus’s message in The Stranger is that life is absurd . He communicates this message through the protagonist, Meursault, who lives his life according to the belief that his world operates without order, reason, or meaning.
What is the theme of the story The Stranger?
Major themes of The Stranger include alienation, absurdity, and French colonialism . Meursault is the titular stranger, a young shipping clerk living in Algiers in the 1940s, when it was still a French colony. Meursault’s life is dull and empty, and Meursault takes little pleasure in living.
What does The Stranger symbolize?
The symbols in The Stranger represent conflicts for Meursault between social convention and engagement in the experiences of life .
What is The Stranger the book about?
A shipping clerk living in French Algiers in the 1940s, Meursault is a young, detached but ordinary man . The novel begins with Meursault receiving a telegram informing him of his mother’s death. He attends the funeral, but surprises other attendees with his unusual calm and (once again) detachment.
Is Meursault autistic?
It was then found that Camus had based Meursault on his close friend Galindo, and a search was therefore made for evidence of Galindo’s character; this revealed him to be an intelligent but odd person, who exhibited the characteristic impairment of social and personal behavior of Asperger’s syndrome .
What does the sun symbolize in The Stranger?
In The Stranger, the sun represents the indifference of the universe . It is the sun shining in his eyes that allegedly motivates Meursault to murder the Arab man.
Is Meursault an existentialist?
Meursault is the absurdist , explaining the philosophy of existentialism: Man’s isolation among an indifferent universe. There is no inherent meaning in life – its entire value lies in living itself. Meursault feels he has been happy, and longs to live.
What does Meursault symbolize?
The crucifix that the examining magistrate waves at Meursault symbolizes Christianity , which stands in opposition to Camus’s absurdist world view. ... When Meursault defies the magistrate by rejecting Christianity, he implicitly rejects all systems that seek to define a rational order within human existence.
How is Meursault a stranger?
Stranger: a subjective homonym
Meursault views society as a stranger to himself because they do not do things the same way he does. He understands that people view the world differently, but does not know why. Simultaneously, people view Meursault as a stranger because he is so withdrawn and secluded from everyone.
What does water mean in the stranger?
The trip to the sea represents change in Meursault’s life . This change is a deviation to his normal routine, which will put him under the influence of others. The reason that the sea is chosen is that it in itself represents chanage.
What is the significance of the trial in the stranger?
The trial and conviction of Meursault represents the main ideals of absurdism, that truth does not exist, and life is precious. The trial is used to portray the jury’s attempt to place a proper verdict on Meursault as mankind’s attempt to find order in an irrational universe.
What kind of person is Meursault?
Meursault is a detached figure who views and describes much of what occurs around him from a removed position. He is emotionally indifferent to others, even to his mother and his lover, Marie. He also refuses to adhere to the accepted moral order of society.
Is The Stranger suitable for 13 year olds?
Parents need to know that The Stranger is a mystery drama that involves some violence, profanity, and drug use. Teens are depicted drinking and using drugs at an secret party, though the downside of drug use is also shown. Though violent incidents occur in each episode, the show makes an effort to use it sparingly.
Why you should read The Stranger?
In The Stranger, Camus plays on the idea of what is correct behavior and what is incorrect behavior . The main character—who may be considered an ‘anti-hero’—is a French man named ‘Meursault,’ and he does things that few people do. ... And that’s where The Stranger, like other great works of literature, shines.
Is Meursault black?
Can the story work with Meursault as black? Yes and no . On one hand, it’s difficult to reproduce the social dynamic Meursault inhabits in Camus’s story with a black protagonist. Meursault belongs to the privileged class of French-occupied Algeria: the colonizer class.
