Existentialism refers to the idea that there is no higher meaning to
the universe or to man’s existence, and no rational order to the events of
the world (think Meursault’s casual attitude about his day to day life, how
he just goes with the flow and seems to lack realistic, long-term goals for the
future). According to this meaning of existentialism, some hold the belief that
a person’s life does not have an asserting purpose—there is nothing beyond
man’s physical being. It the idea of life being an individual’s independence to
the extent that the person may abandon the “rules” and values society gives,
and decide for themselves how to live in the world. In a sense, it is sort of
an attitude of indifference to many worldly matters. While such a mindset can seem
nice and liberating, in The Stranger, Meursault explores the darker
side of this mindset through his questionable conduct.
In the novel, the philosophy of existentialism is subtly introduced
from the start, when we analyze Meursault’s detached behavior towards his own
mother's death. We might interpret this as his assertion of his existentialist
thinking; a person’s life doesn’t have any purpose beyond their physical existence,
which might’ve been why he had no emotional reaction at the end of hers. Meursault
just sees death as something that happens to everyone, which is why it was easy
to move on from his mother’s death. From the very first page of the story, he
indicates little to no connection with her whatsoever: ''When we lived
together, Mother was always watching me, but we hardly ever talked.'' This
suggests he might’ve never bonded with her on a personal level – but there is
more.
He is also totally unconcerned about his relationship with Marie, which
is really weird. Their relationship seems to mean so little to him, and it
seems like it wouldn’t matter to him whether or not he lost that relationship.
His response to her mention of marriage: ''I explained that it had no
importance really, but, if it would give her pleasure, we could get married
right away.'' This attitude of indifference might seem strange to us readers at
first, but it definitely depicts the mindset of existentialism. The idea that
this world has no rational order of events is probably why Meursault just kind
of goes with the flow about everything and never gives definite answers to
anything, including the serious stuff like marriage.
Meursault takes this nonchalant attitude towards loss to the extreme
when tried for the murder of Raymond’s girlfriend’s brother and becoming
passive in his own legal defense. This makes it easy for the prosecution to
show him as a coldhearted, heartless criminal. When asked about his belief in
God, he denies having one: ''I said I saw no point in troubling my head about
the matter; whether I believed or didn't was, to my mind, a question of so
little importance.'' Once again, Meursault’s reaction here – well as his rejection of belief in God – depicts
existentialism.
I see how Meursault is an existentialist because of all these examples. To him, life is meaningless. It's why the French have him executed, not because he killed a man, but because he challenges their belief that their lives matter. Personally, I don't think he should have been executed, but his idea that nothing matters is kinda scary. I like have meaning in my life because if there isn't why am I trying to hard to do well? For Meursault, existentialism works and he was comfortable living his life that way.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting argument. He definitely does not seem to care a whole lot about anything, whether it affects him or not. Perhaps it is own way of coping with his mother's death - convincing himself to remain unbothered and that there is no point of anything. Since we don't get to see the kind of person he is before his mother's death, we don't really know how much it changed him.
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