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existentialist is a way to cope with life. His philosophy of you are alive and therefore you exist
and his belief that there is no purpose to life control the action in the entire novel. The actions
that happen in the novel are ironic because of Meursaults attitude towards the societal norms
and expectations that are considered strange by the society. Although according to him his
Stream of consciousness is a method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in
the minds of the character. The language used is therefore simple and straight forward allowing
the readers to understand what the protagonist believes. This technique is used by Camus as a
tool to establish the philosophy of existentialism in the novel. Furthermore, it also enhances the
readers understanding of the ee novel. Using the first person narrative, the readers also
understand that they will not obtain a reliable point of view as the flow of thoughts only
represents the thoughts of the protagonist. Therefore, Camus employs stream of consciousness as
a device to convey the true self of the protagonist and through the protagonist the readers are
allowed to see the other characters and connect with the novel. The readers are able to see that
the thoughts of the protagonist tend to focus on the present rather than thinking about the past or
the future and this justifies why Meursault is an existentialist by living life for what it is in that
himself and forgets to acknowledge those requirements and the norms of the society in which he
is in which essentially makes him The Outsider in the novel. When Marie asks Meursault if he
wishes to marry her, Meursault replies with an I dont mind and similarly when Marie says
marriage is a serious matter, Meursault denies it by saying No.. This clearly indicates that
Meursault is a man who talks from his heart and his views are never changed or altered by the
societal requirements and demands. In the same way when Meursault says I could feel my
forehead swelling under the sun... I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists in my trouser pockets...
the thick drunkenness it was spilling over me This enables the readers to understand that the
shooting of the Arab was unintentional and it was due to the heat of the sun which was
intolerable to him. Although this is the truth, when Meursault explains it in the courtroom, the
society does not acknowledge it as a valid excuse. Therefore, his action to kill the Arab seems
Only towards the very end of the novel we can see that Meursault is trying to understand his
emotions but until then he does not consider emotions to be a part of his existence and therefore
he does not care about them. This is because he has everything that he wished for in life and was
satisfied with it. Once he starts to represent his thoughts about how he misses smoking, physical
happiness with Marie and the world outside, the readers get a sense of feeling that he is not an
outsider anymore because he does represent how he feels about things that he considered to be
important in life yet are not part of his life in that moment in time. He then uses his stream of
consciousness in the form of replaying his memory and experiencing it within the four walls of
the prison. This keeps him occupied and says a lot about how his character has evolved from the
Part One to Part Two of the novel. In addition to that when Meursaults approaching his death, he
faces it in such a way that an existentialist would have. He says I felt that I had been happy and
that I was happy again. When the time came for Meursault to go he was well prepared to face
it. He able to accept his death and is looking forward to being less alone. Through his narration
we can see how the mindset of Meursault changes when the novel approaches its end, when
The philosophy of existentialism is also shown throughout the novel. This philosophy is
becoming popular amongst the youth which makes the novel more attractive for the readers of
my age. The use of stream of consciousness not only helps in the holistic understanding of the
novel by itself but through the language the readers would also be able to understand its
Meursaults narration, stays the same: to make us recognise that human beings are free to choose,
not only what to do when faced with moral choices, but what to value and how to live. All these
are portrayed in the novel by the character Meursault though his narration although it ends in a
tragedy. The first sentence of the novel was indeed shocking to me because Meursault shows no
emotion over his mothers death. This was surprising to me because the society in which we
reside in would not find this acceptable and it would be considered a crime not to cry at your
mothers funeral. Furthermore, although the philosophy is applicable in a society similar to that
represented in the novel, if we were to follow the existential philosophy, we are likely to face the
consequences similar to the one that Meursault faced at the end of the novel.
The novel acted as a pathway for Camus to represent his situation and dilemma. Camus wrote
this novel to bring forth the true meaning of life and human existence to the readers attention.
He also wants to represent how the societys views are almost always opposing an individuals
moral values. In the case of Meursault, the courtroom focuses more on his act of being
emotionless at his mothers funeral is investigated more than exploring the reason behind why he
killed the Arab. Meursault does not understand why he is not being investigated for the crime of
killing but for the crime of not crying at his mothers funeral. On the other hand, the society is
more concerned about Meursault, not adhering or fitting into the societal expectation and
therefore becoming an intruder. All this is evidently seen through the language used by Camus in
the novel. Hence this conflict between the individual and the society becomes the pivotal point