Alberts Aimless Absurdity - 898 Words

In Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, he exposes his beliefs on absurdism through the narration of Meursault. Camus’ definition of absurdism is a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is illogical and meaningless. Camus, founder of absurdism and French Nobel Prize winning author, sends the reader his underlying theme that life is meaningless and has no ulti-mate significance. This underlying theme of life’s absurdity is extremely personal to Camus through his own individual experiences of his life. Camus establishes his process of absurdism directly in the first line. Meursault narrates, â€Å"[m]other died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure† (Camus 4). This is the first indica-tion Meursault does not pay much consideration to the life of his own. In normal cases, children who have lost their mother, or any parent, should know details of such a horrifying event in one’s life. In Simon du Plock’s â€Å"Albert Cam us – Existentialist or Abusurdist?†, he points out, â€Å"[i]n that murder scene [where Meursault kills the Arab] is contained the key to unlocking Camus’ concept of the absurd†¦[l]ife, as Camus describes it†¦is pointless, meaningless, and must end in death† (du Plock 16). For example, the murder scene is the first concrete action Meursault and Camus take to show that human life is meaningless past death. Leading up to Meursault’s slaying of the Arab, it is arguable that he was looking for something to happen. Meursault went to the beach with a gun when it