The Stranger

The Stranger is written by Albert Camus, who was a legendary twentieth century French novelist. Camus believed in existentialism, which is the idea that there is no higher meaning to the universe or even man's existence. Many believe that Camus's novel The Stranger is an example of a man who is an existential. Meursault is the narrator in the novel, who really does not care about those around him. Meursault in addition has no feelings in his body, as he did not grieve over the lost of his mother, or that he killed a man. He is a man with no hope in life, no emotions, and believes that human life has no purpose. Camus shows this through many different elements of style, which includes characterization, description, and mood. One of the many different elements of style Camus uses for Meursault, the protagonist is characterization. Camus describes the personality of Meursault as someone who has little to no emotion. An example of his personality is when his own mother dies, and he does not have a care in the world. He did not even know when she actually died. A normal person would be devastated and heartbroken, but Meursault feels nothing at all. Meursault’s actions are dark throughout the novel, in particular when he shots the Arab, and kills him. He had no feelings, no emotion, and simply believed the weather provoked him to kill the Arab. Certain actions in life change your life forever. That was most certainly the case with Meursault when he kills the Arab. He blamed his action on how it was too hot outside, and how the sun was beating down on him. “I knew that I had shattered the harmony of day, the exceptional silence of a beach, where I’d been happy” (59). This quote by Meursault was at the end of part one, and explains that he had no emotions after killing the Arab, and life went on without a purpose. Camus does a marvelous job in describing the character, Meursault. A clear example of description is when Meursault visits the old people's home