The Stranger (1942) , written by Albert Camus deals with the absurd philosophy and the meaningless value of human existence. It is highly philosophical , nihilistic and questions the very existence of a human being. It shows the impact of two World Wars on the consciousness of the society. Camus tries to project it in an ironical manner that shrouds absurdity of human life and the idea of Nietzschean death of God or morality.
The novella itself opens with absurdity where the narrator Meursault who lives in Algiers shows emotional disconnection towards his decease mother. It is presented in an ironical manner where the mother lives distant away from her son in an old person’s home and the son, Meursault fails to show any sadness over his mother’s funeral.
Critically , the novella is instituting the failure of human relationships and the values associated with it. It establishes the disconnection among family members as well as the lack of any emotional bondage between Meursault and his mother. He happily arrives back home to Algiers and he almost faints during the funeral procession which reflects the absurd human relationship and the diminishing moral values or nihilism.
The other exemplification of absurdity in the novella is the mundaneness and nothingness of the modern world that Meursault lives. The next day , he sleeps with Marie and he sees that Marie has left the bedroom without him knowing it. He looks down the street until noon watching the people pass by. This shows the mundaneness of human life and the isolation of a modern man. It also shows the absurdity of deteriorating values where the man and woman relationship institute meaninglessness in the modern world.
The other instance of absurdity in the novella is the failure of human relationships. Camus is trying to highlight the nihilistic world where there is an absence of values that can direct the mankind. Raymond has a fail relationship with his mistress whom he abuses her for cheating on him that eventually leads him into a fight. He even got into a fight again when they are at a beach when one of the Arabs is Raymond’s mistress brother.
The absurd state is seen where Meursault murders Raymond’s brother with a gun that eventually charges him with prison and death penalty. It is ironic since Raymond is the one who should kill his mistress brother but Meursault does so since he represents the nihilistic man of the modern society.
However , one can also assess the absurd nature of human life in the novella where it becomes clearer that Meursault is an atheist. He is nihilistic and represents Nietzschean philosophy on the death of God. He is directionless and hence he exhibits nihilistic behaviour. The magistrate could not comprehend the reason behind his murder and his attitude towards his lack of remorse, guilt and grief towards crime and his mother’s funeral. This clearly shows the absurd life Meursault and the overall absurdity of human life where the society itself has become meaningless and Meursault is in a quest to search the meaning and purpose of his own existence in this meaningless world. He pursues it with no external guidance from God but by the ways of nihilism.
Furthermore, Meursault behaviour shows the absurdity of human life. He is remorseless and he fails to connect with others on an emotional scale. He feels indifferent to societal values including moral values and marriage. These values are meaningless and nothingness to him. He has already denounce God from his life and he is directionless to search a meaning in his own life. When he is sentenced to guillotine his head considering his nihilistic behaviour to be a threat to the society , he accepts that human existence holds no value into this world and he loses hope for the future which makes him happy. This also shows the very absurdity in the novella where Meursault who dies happily being guillotined over his absurd philosophy of life and it is also irrational that he exhibited lack of fear and emotional torment even in his last stage of life.
Albert Camus The Plague as an Absurd Novel
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