The world is meaningless and absurd, and only by embracing the meaningless indifference of the world can humanity achieve true happiness. First published as L’Étranger in 1942, and later translated into English as The Stranger (also known as The Outsider), the novel follows the seemingly irrational character Meursault as he undergoes a murder trial. Written in wartime France, The Stranger confronts the tragedy and suffering of the world head-on, and laconically tackles the issues of life`s meaning. In The Stranger, Albert Camus illustrates the irrationality, absurdity, and meaninglessness of the universe and the flawed attempts to rationalize it, through the use of the character Meursault, the magistrate, and the chaplain. With the character Meursault, Camus introduces the reader to the absurdity of the world through his actions and the responses he receives towards them. The author also effectively utilizes the examining magistrate to symbolize society and its attempts and reasons behind rationalizing the absurd. Moreover, the author makes use of the chaplain to exhibit the flaws behind doing so and assigning meaning to an indifferent universe. In The Stranger, Camus leverages the characters within the novel to criticize assigning meaning and rationality to the inherently absurd universe.
Humanity exists in a state of flux between the inseparable need for order and the intrinsically chaotic nature of the universe. Camus articulately demonstrates this in The Stranger through the use of the protagonist, Meursault, who exemplifies the absurd hero. This is further demonstrated through the following quote, “Mother died today, or maybe yesterday, I don’t know” (Camus 9). Here the reader is not only introduced to Meursault but is simultaneously introduced to his absurdity, thereby the reader is prompted to accept Meursault's irrationality as a part of his persona. As the first lines of the novel, this quote sets the tone for its remainder, as more instances of Meursault’s irrationality are portrayed to the reader. Meursault does not outwardly show any emotion towards the death of his mother and does not mourn her loss, an act considered “unacceptable” behavior, and thus constitutes an act of absurdity and irrationality. Besides showing the reader an instance of the irrational universe and the absurd events that take place within it, the quote also engages with the reader, from this quote, the reader is challenged to accept Meursault’s actions as one that is irrational and absurd without attempting to rationalize it as a process of grief or otherwise. Meursault’s reactions to his mother’s death also serve as a recurring motif within the novel, as he is reproached for it by the caretaker, the examining magistrate, and the prosecutor. Meursault does not conform to the societal script which dictates that he must grieve over the loss of a parent, and he thus exemplifies the absurd in a world that seeks order amid chaos. Moreover, this is further elaborated on in the following quote, where Meursault shoots the Arab on the beach:
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The sky seemed to be splitting from end to end and raining down sheets of flame. My whole being went tense and I tightened my grip on the gun. The trigger gave, I felt the underside of the polished butt and it was there, in that sharp but deafening noise, that it all started. [...] I realized that I’d destroyed the balance of the day and the perfect silence of this beach where I’d been happy. And I fired for more times at a lifeless body and the bullets sank in without leaving a mark. And it was like giving four sharp knocks at the door of unhappiness (Camus 60).
By including this in the novel, the author entangles Meursualt’s irrationality with the crime of murder. The reader is again challenged to take Meursault’s actions for what they are, an impulsive murder committed based solely on environmental circumstances. Meursault shoots the Arab not because he feels threatened, or vengeful, but rather because the Arab’s knife is causing the sun to reflect onto him which makes him uncomfortable. The reasoning behind Meursault’s actions is fundamentally absurd and irrational. Meursault does not believe that the death of the Arab or any other member of society constitutes something noteworthy or important and thus shows the same level of indifference towards the death of the Arab as he does towards the death of his mother, in either case, both of them will have died regardless of his intervention. Meursault has no reason to or not to kill the Arab, instead he chooses to do so in the same way he lives much of his life, with indifference, and it is for this reason that society views him as a threat. Camus uses the character Meursault to represent the absurd universe and people's reactions to it.
Society attempts to seek meaning and rational in a world that is absurd and meaningless because the absurd world is a threat to their values and society itself. Camus thoroughly demonstrates this through the use of the examining magistrate who embodies societal behaviors toward absurdity. This is further delineated in the following quote:
‘Why, did you fire at a dead body?’ Once again I didn’t know what to answer. The magistrate wiped his hands across his forehead and repeated his question in a slightly broken voice, ‘Why? You must tell me. Why?’ I still didn't say anything [...] I vaguely understood that as far as he was concerned there was only one part of my confession that didn't make sense, the fact that I’d paused just before firing the second shot. The rest was alright, but this he just couldn't understand (Camus 67).
Through the preceding quote, the reader sees the evident distress that the examining magistrate experiences when he is unable to make sense of the actions perpetrated by Meursault. This distress stemming from the fundamental irrationality of such an action emphasizes that the magistrate is not particularly concerned with Meursault's acts, but rather the affront that such action poses to a community that seeks to make sense of the absurd. This is made more evident by the fact that the examining magistrate’s distress depends on the fact that Meursault fired four extra shots into a dead body. The examining magistrate can rationalize the fact that Meursault killed the Arab due to environmental circumstances. However, he is unable to rationalize why he would continue to fire into a dead body after pausing, which serves as the source of his distress. Furthermore, why society attempts to rationalize the absurd is further expounded on in the following quote, “He told me that it was impossible, that all men believed in God, even those who wouldn't face up to Him. That was his belief, and if he should ever doubt it, his life would become meaningless. ‘Do you want my life to become meaningless?’ he cried” (Camus 68). Through the quote, the examining magistrate elucidates why society at large needs to rationalize the absurd. By accepting an absurd world, society cannot assign non-arbitrary meaning and value to their own lives and thus must rationalize every instance of absurdity to preserve the universal values that guide their lives such as religion. The examining magistrate perfectly outlines this belief by showing that Meursault’s beliefs on religion, or lack thereof, is a threat to his own religious belief that acts as the hinge on which all of his life’s meaning rests. Therefore through the examining magistrate Camus highlights the need and attempts behind rationalising Meursault’s absurdity.
Seeking meaning and rationality in a world that is absurd and meaningless is an intrinsically flawed action. Camus employs the character of the chaplain to compellingly demonstrate this through the use of their interactions with the protagonist. This is further explicated in the following quote, “I was pouring everything out at him from the bottom of my heart in a paroxysm of joy and anger. He seemed so certain of everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainty was worth one hair of a woman's head. He couldn't even be sure he was alive because he was living like a dead man” (Camus 115). In the preceding quote, Camus makes use of Meursault’s interactions with the chaplain to accentuate the flaws of using religion as a source of order and meaning. Meursault promptly points out that the chaplain’s blind obedience and certainty prevent him from living his life instead, compelling the chaplain to live his life as if he were already dead, for the life that he is promised by his religion, without the foreknowledge that such a life exists. The chaplain becomes a slave to his religion and his beliefs by forcing himself to live an unenjoyable life, in a similar way to how the magistrate is forced always to rationalize the absurd. A similar sentiment is echoed through the following quote,
I explained to him I wasn't in despair. I was simply afraid, which was only natural. ‘In that case, God would help you,’ he said. ‘Every man that I've known in your position has turned to Him.’ I remarked that that was up to them. It also proved that they could spare the time. As for me, I didn't want anyone to help me and time was the very thing I didn't have for taking an interest in what didn't interest me (Camus 112).
Through this interaction with the chaplain Meursault once again establishes his position on the issue, Meursault makes clear that the usage of God and religion to overcome fear is an erroneous approach. Meursault sees the flaws of seeking comfort in a world and in an afterlife that is not guaranteed, instead, he recognizes that the only life that is worth living for is the tangible experience that he can be sure of. Meursault rightfully places more importance on the physical world instead of that which is intangible, which we see in many instances of the book, such as his relationship with Marie. Meursault fears death, a natural response however he does not allow fear to hold sway over his life and instead lives despite the fear in contrast with the chaplain who lives for the fear. With this, Meursault irrefutably shows the flaws of seeking comfort in religion and rationalizing the absurd as a whole, and how in doing so humanity indentures itself to that goal.
Camus exploits the characters within the novel The Stranger to illuminate the nature of the universe and to exhibit the flaws of human rationalization of such nature. Camus uses Meursault to epitomize the absurdity of the universe within the novel and the responses he receives. Camus also takes advantage of the examining magistrate to highlight the attempts at rationalizing the absurd and the misguided reasons behind doing so. Additionally, Camus capitalizes on the interactions between Meursault and the chaplain to show the insufficiency and inadequacy of assigning meaning to the meaningless and to critique and shed light on the flaws of religion. With The Stranger, Camus explicitly exhibits society’s pathetic attempts to seek order out of chaos and the lengths and extremes society takes to rid themselves of the absurd due to the threat that they pose to societal conceptions of meaning.
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