Albert Camus The Stranger: Existentialism and Absurdism Essay

existential philosophy is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a unlike or indifferent humanity, regards human race existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and function for the consequences of ones acts. This philosophy is essentially the crux of the apologue The Stranger and non single serves as one of the themes but probably the of import ground Albert Camus wrote the book altogether.Presented in first person tarradiddle done the eyes of Meursault, the indifferent and apathetic classical character, the novel serves to evoke the creed of existentialist philosophy through the embodiment of the philosophy in a person. Meursaults speech, thought, and actions are what Camus believed a person who innately possess the tenets of existentialism would have. Existentialism, what it represents, the results of its embodiment in a person, and the robustness of the doctrine altogether are all essence(a) aspe cts explored in The Stranger by Albert Camus.Maman died to twenty-four hour period or yesterday maybe, I dont hold up. These opening lines of the novel serve not only to introduce the novel but to summarize it as well. Rather than focusing on what is important-his m early(a)s death-Meursault is focused on when exactly she died whether it was yesterday or today, since the telegraph only stated the funeral would be tomorrow. veracious away, within the very first sentence, the lector is introduced to existentialism incarnate. Meursault exhibits a complete and utter indifference to deportment manifested by a profound lack of emotion.He doesnt care when his mother died, in floor the particular that he has to attend the funeral altogether is the near troubling part of this whole ordeal to him. When he finally gets to the funeral, he couldnt care less(prenominal) close his mother-as he rejects the offer to open the casket-but is suddenly consumed by the days heat. Camus does a g reat problem in the first part of the novel of demonstrating to the reader not only the philosophy of existentialism, but a corporal standard of it as well.This corporal representation of existentialism is what makes The Stranger the unique book it is. As opposed to the multitude of books and manifestos approaching existentialism from an donnish emplacement, The Stranger approaches the philosophy by detailing a character with the belief innately in him and viewing how someone like this might behave. Neither the foreign human race in which Meursault lives nor the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possesses some(prenominal) rational order.Meursault has no discernable reason for his actions, much(prenominal) as his decision to marry Marie and his decision to hide the Arab. The book, narrated by Meursault, is basically spirit detailed superficially by him. He talks about the weather, the fodder hes eating, about the things he did that day alternatively than how h e feels or thinks of other people, places and things. This is how a person consumed with existentialism would behave and think-indifferently and apathetically. Meursault passes no ruling on people and is ultimate executed for sidesplitting an Arab for no apparent reason.The philosophy or hypothesis of Existentialism is somewhat controversial, but nonetheless in m some(prenominal) respects it has some notable and lucid points. If one were to truly learn a go out at the universe, it would seem purposeless. And humans do in fact possess the innate desire, or rather compulsion, to explain things and have things figured out-thus explaining their need to coadjutor a purpose with the universe, even when it doesnt inevitably exist. nevertheless what made this theory come about in the 19th century when it could have been accomplished centuries before?The reason is the tragedy and devastation the world saw at this time-several world wars in precise. If we take a look at the livin g of Albert Camus himself, its hard to deny the fact that there is a connection between the existentialisms instauration and personal tragedy. In 1914, Camus Father was drafted into WWI and killed in France. In 1934 he Married Simone Hie, but divorced her twain years later. In 1939 he volunteered for service in WWII, but was rejected due to illness. In 1940 he wrote an es vocalise on the state of Muslims in Algeria create him to lose his job and move to Paris.In 1941 he joined the French resistance against the Nazis and became an editor of Combat, an cloak-and-dagger newspaper. These, as well as many other incidents and events in Camus life influenced him in the sense that they make in him a bleak, pessimistic view of life. This perspective undoubtedly set the foundation for his adoption of the theory of existentialism. If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the unmitigable grandeur of this life. The point lit in this quote by Camus is that although some examine viewing life with despair to be wrong, or sinful, in reality hoping for an after life, another life, or living a life of implacable grandeur is the real sin. Camus held strong to the belief of Absurdism, or the belief that humanitys effort to fix meaning in the universe will ultimately fail-thus it is absurd to try to find meaning or to live as though there is a meaning because no such meaning exists. trance Absurdism might seem like a equivalent word for Existentialism, the two are slightly different. Existentialism makes the point that there is no purpose or meaning in the universe. Absurdism goes a step further to say that not only is life purposeless, but any attempt at finding meaning is utterly absurd. Albert Camus, being the polarized man that he was, held more securely to the belief of Absurdism than existentialism. In writing The Stranger, Albert Camus championed the idea of existentialism, a philosophy he truly believed in it.But the philosophy of existentialism is not free of criticism. Herbert Marcuse criticized existentialism, curiously in Sartres Being and Nothingness, for projecting current features of living in a modern, oppressive society, such as anxiety and meaninglessness, onto the nature of existence itself In so far as Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine, it remains an idealistic doctrine it hypothesizes specific historical conditions of human existence into ontological and metaphysical characteristics.Existentialism thus becomes part of the very political orientation which it attacks, and its radicalism is illusory What Marcuse is saying here is that existentialism makes the break of thinking that just because human conditions are sad and seem to lack a purpose, that they in fact do. Whether or not there is purpose to the universe is an ontological and metaphysical subject, not one that outhouse be realized through historical events.Existenti alism and its brother philosophy Absurdism are philosophies that emphasize the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile and indifferent world, and stress the fact the universe has no discernable purpose. This philosophy is essentially the crux of the novel The Stranger as Meursault, the indifferent and apathetic main character, embodies the tenets of existentialism intrinsically. Existentialism, what it represents, the results of its embodiment in a person, and the hardness of the doctrine altogether are all important aspects explored in The Stranger by Albert Camus.Bibliography1. Existentialism. The American hereditary pattern Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers. com 28 Mar. 2007. http//www. answers. com/ musical theme/existentialism2. Marcuse, Herbert. Sartres Existentialism. Printed in Studies in unfavorable Philosophy. Translated by Joris De Bres. London NLB, 1972. p. 1613. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Mi ddlesex UK Penguin Classics, 1943. 4. Sartre, Jean P. Existentialism is a Humanism. World Company, 1956. 5. Albert Camus. 28 Mar. 2007 . 6. White, Ray. The Meaning of Life. 2004. 29 Mar. 2007 .