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In Albert Camus' The Stranger, the
theme of life being absurd and having no meaning
is shown through the existentialistic Meursault,
who says "Mother died today or was it
yesterday". This quote shows not only
Meursault's indifference to his mother's death
but also closely relates to Meursault's senseless
murder of an Arab and his satisfaction with his
life at the time of his execution.
In order to convey that The Stranger's general
theme of the absurdity of life, author Albert
Camus has Meursault display no emotion at his
mother's funeral. Meursault, a purported
existentialist, shows no emotions because in his
mind the funeral and its procession are trivial.
Meursault feels that his mother is dead and the
fuss being made over it is stupid. In the cosmic
irrelevancy of his mother's death, Meursault says
"Mother died today or was it
yesterday". This correlates with his feeling
that death is death; that is, when death happens
is not important.
Similarly, Meursault shows no emotion or regret
when he maliciously kills an Arab at point-blank
range. Meursault's aforementioned casual demeanor
of death is again displayed because Meursault
apparently feels the Arab's life had not meaning.
Had Meursault thought otherwise, his active
conscious mind would have prevented him from
committing the murder. When on trial for the
murder, he displayed no remorse when he told the
jury he murdered the Arab "because of the
sun". The sun acts as Meursault's guide,
causing him to accept the concept and perform the
act of murder. Furthermore, this and the
consequent actions of Meursault allow him to
overcome the angst, or the realization that life
is absurd, of the eventual death and end of h is
life. The concept of actions and the making of
decisions fulfilling one's own destiny is an
existential idea, of which Meursault believed.
Finally, author Camus has Meursault accept his
inevitable execution. Meursault accepts his death
by acknowledging that he made decisions when one
had to be made. More importantly, he had
performed actions that exemplified his existence.
Having accomplished the existential nirvana,
Meursault sat in his cell awaiting his demise.
The time of his death did not matter to
Meursault; his eventual fate of death was already
sealed. He knew it mattered not how or when he
died, for death still occurred. Meursault
experienced the cosmic irrelevancy of the
universe, and took salvation in it.
Albert Camus' The Stranger is the quintessential
existential novel. Meursault displayed his
disinterest in death and accepted his own with an
eerie vindication. Meursault, in his mind, died a
meaningless death. Perhaps it is only fitting
that Meursault's death came with the sunrise;
even after Meursault had died, the sun would
continue to rise unwavering. His death meant
nothing to the world, and his death did not
change a thing.
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