Albert Camus, The Stranger, The Absurdity of It All: Understanding Indifference to Life
Absurdism means that life has no inherent meaning.
I was in college taking French. During the semester, we read several novels, including Albert Camus' haunting book, "L'Etranger," translated as "The Stranger." It has stayed with me, and ever since, the world has become the very place that Camus referred to, a place of anomie and meaninglessness. When I turn on the local news for Colorado, all we hear about are random murders for no reason. All the murders are by guns of various types.
"The Stranger" is a short novel but packs a punch. It's one of those books that makes you stop and think about life in a pretty unusual way.
Absurdism means that life has no inherent meaning. Camus' book is about indifference to life, anomie, and absurdism. The protagonist, Meursault, lacks moral and social principles. The book is another example of Existentialism.
The book opens in a way that I will never forget; Meursault gets the news that "Aujourd'hui, Maman est morte," today his mother has died, or maybe it was yesterday. Instead of being heartbroken or deeply sad like you'd expect, he's just indifferent. He doesn't cry or feel much at all. He goes through the motions and attends the funeral but is not interested. A massive theme in the book is that Meursault just doesn't seem to care about the things that society expects him to care about.
As the story continues, we see more of this detached attitude. He has a girlfriend named Marie, but even when she talks about love, he's like, "Sure, whatever." He enjoys spending time with her but is not all wrapped up in emotions or commitment. He's just living in the moment, and that's it.
Meursault ends up killing a man on a beach. It's almost like it happens by accident. He shoots the man, and when he tries to explain why, he doesn't have any reason.
When Meursault goes to trial, the focus is less on the murder and more on his personality. People are shocked that he didn't cry at his mother's funeral, but not because he killed someone! Society finds his lack of emotion and "strangeness" disturbing, so they condemn him for the crime and his uniqueness.
Camus wrote this book to explore absurdism, the belief that life doesn't have a clear meaning and that trying to find one is pointless. Meursault's life reflects that. He doesn't assign meaning to things or people.
So, The Stranger is about more than just a murder. It's about a man who doesn't "fit the mold." He is not a nonconformist but has no feelings, purpose, or connection to other individuals. He sees life as random and meaningless and clashes with a world that expects everyone to care deeply about love, death, and justice. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking book but also emotionally disturbing.
Tragically, life seems to have little or no meaning today.
Thank you for this. I have this book and started it but never finished. I need to go back to it now.
THE STRANGER was one of my first forays into absurdist literature, and I remember vividly how much I was jarred by the legal verdict (which, as you note, was based on the fact that the protagonist did not cry at his mother's funeral). Thank you for sharing your insights into this important work.