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Arlen Chen
Mr. Whittle
English IV AP
August 20, 2007
Absurdism Philosophy in The Stranger.
In Camus’ essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, Sisyphus is portrayed as the absurd hero who
sees life as a constant struggle, without hope. Sisyphus’ fate is the eternal labor of pushing a
rock up a mountain, only for it to roll down the mountain again. While Sisyphus pushes the rock
up the mountain there is nothing for him but toil and struggle. However, as he descends the
mountain he is aware of his fate. The fact that his struggle is indefinite is accepted by Sisyphus,
and by accepting his fate he has, according to Camus, achieved true happiness. This idea of the
absurd hero is portrayed further in Camus’ novel, The Stranger, through Meursault’s
indifference, irrationality, and fate.
Meursault’s indifference to the world is shown primarily through his reaction to his
mother’s death. Even the first line of the novel reeks of Meursault’s apathy. He says, “Maman
died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know” (Camus, 3). Camus uses Meursault as the
absurd hero in his novel in order to further exemplify his ideas of life being meaningless and
hopeless, as shown in The Myth of Sisyphus. Even Meursault’s relationship with his girlfriend,
Marie, is nothing to him. When asked if Meursault loved Marie, he wrote, “I told her it didn’t
mean anything, but that I didn’t think so” (Camus, 35). Later, she asks if he wants to marry her
and replies with the same attitude. Meursault’s utter indifference to everything around him
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shows Camus’ philosophy that human life has no meaning or purpose. When spoken to about
the acceptance of religion before his death, Meursault describes the discussion as, “of quite
minor importance” (Camus, 86). Instead of considering the value of accepting religion this close
to death, Meursault states he was, “beginning to have enough of it” and decides to describe the
jail cell as becoming “steadily hotter” (Camus, 87). According to Camus, the only purpose of
life is to avoid death, but since death is inevitable, it renders life meaningless. As the novel
progresses, Meursault slowly begins to comprehend this and begins to understand his fate.
Camus’ absurdist philosophy states that human life has no rational explanation and
therefore human existence is absurd as we all live to eventually decease. Camus portrays
Meursault to have no rational order in the external world in which he lives as well as the internal
world of his thoughts and actions. Meursault has no reason for his actions, such as his decision
to marry Marie and his murder of the Arab. Meursault attributes his marriage to Marie as
something he merely agreed to since it was what she wanted. Later in the novel when asked why
he had shot the Arab, “[Meursault] blurted out that it was because of the sun” (Camus, 103).
Nevertheless, society tries to place rational explanations for Meursault’s actions during the trial
based on reason and cause and effect. Thus is the presence of the absurd, in which humankind’s
rationality is meaningless in an irrational world.
Meursault’s final realization of the absurd occurs during his alone time in his jail cell.
After he is condemned to die, he begins thinking about how he was to escape his death, only to
conclude that “whether it was now or twenty years from now, [he] would still be the one dying”
(Camus, 114). Meursault accepts that it is meaningless to attempt to escape an inevitable death
for a life filled with no purpose. His longings and needs, such as women, cigarettes, and
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swimming, torment him but eventually fade. Similarly, Sisyphus had the same experience as he
longed to return to Earth. Eventually, Meursault forgets about his needs and connects with the
physical world around him, as he “never had a moment’s boredom” (Camus, 98) while noticing
the minute details of his cell. As Meursault becomes more and more attached to the present
rather than the past, his realization of the absurdist philosophy is complete.
As the novel progresses, Meursault’s understanding of the absurd matures until the end of
the book when his realization is complete. Meursault sees that the fate of humankind is to cease
and desist, regardless of how people lived their lives. Similar to Sisyphus, Meursault accepted
this fate and came to enjoy it. At the end of The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus writes that “One must
imagine Sisyphus happy,” and as Meursault stated himself, he had “been happy, and was happy
still” (Camus, 154).