The Existentialist Files: L'Etranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger (translated from the French title L'Etranger) which is also sometimes translated in English as "The Outsider" was Camus' first published novel in 1942. The Stranger along with The Myth of Sisyphus are the two early works of Camus which have most greatly contributed to the establishment of Camus' public career. In The Stranger, we are introduced to a young man named Meursault who exemplifies an almost complete lack of emotion and remorse throughout the story, even when attending his mother's funeral. While in keeping with his lack of emotion and remorse, Meursault helps his questionably illegitimate neighbor harass his former mistress.

Later, Mersault helps Raymond by lying in order to testify in his favor. Later, Meursault is involved in a dispute between Raymond, murders an Arab and is then arrested. In the events leading up to his trial, Meursault is repeatedly advised by his lawyer to show remorse, even if he needs to fabricate it. At the trial, the prosecutor holds that his blatant lack of remorse is what rends him a monster and at the same time a danger to society. Meursault is thereby sentenced to death. As he awaits his execution, Meursault is confronted by the chaplain who attempts to persuade him to deflect from atheism and apathy. After lashing out violently at the chaplain and denouncing religion, Meursault reflects on how his once troubling realization that life is to be approached with apathy is what now fuels his happiness and grants him comfort.

As Meursault is developed as the protagonist in The Stranger, we are introduced to an individual who is morbidly detached from a sense of societal responsibility and caring. Meursault's detachment is as a result of his determination that everything doesn't really matter. He expresses indifference in a broad range of situations which seem like they should require thought and reflection rather than immediate dismissal. It seems as though the only aspects of life by which Meursault is moved are the concrete, physical, yet also superficial aspects of life, as the degree of ecstasy Meursault expresses from seeing the attractive Marie completely overwhelms the degree of sorrow he expresses when attending his mother's funeral.

All aspects of Meursault's life which would be considered emotional to other individuals are in his case entirely devoid of emotion. Even in the presence of Marie, the same woman who Meursault marvels about and with which he enjoys the pleasure of sexual encounters, this pleasure does not induce any spiritual or emotional reflection. When asked by Marie if he loves her and if he would marry her, Meursault simply replies that he is indifferent. By presenting the positive central figure in the story as someone who is essentially apathetic, and furthermore one who is left at the mercy of a world intolerant of apathy, Camus is begging not so much begging sympathy for such a way of thinking, but rather endorsing Meursault's way of thinking as something which can provide a sense of fulfillment and reassurance no matter how pessimistic it seems.

Chronologically, The Stranger is the first of Camus' major works to hint at his development of the theory on absurdism. It explores not only the simple theory associating human existence with irrationality and unavailability of true attainable meaning, but at the same time the intolerant nature of society towards ideas of this sort, along with the eventual consequences which are to be met when one denies the meaning of existence. Furthermore, the central theme of The Stranger is suggested by Camus through the superficially gloomy yet at the same time redeeming conclusion of the story. Camus suggests in this novel that even in the midst of a life in which one isn't able to extract significance or meaning, redemption is still to be found. The realization that this life is in fact ones own, and no matter how substance-less one deems it to be, one is still in control of it in one's ability pursue a life-long search for the un-attainable meaning, while in the process creating meaning for ourselves.

This central theme is very suggestive of existentialism, as it deals with the positive aspect of creating one's own meaning, and finding meaning in acceptance of the irrationality of the world. The Stranger sports themes which are arguably more suggestive of values suggestive of existentialism than those of absurdism. It is thereby important to note that during this time in Camus' literary career his absurdist theory which was to branch out from existentialism had not yet been fully developed as a stand-alone philosophy. This theory would however develop to a much more pungent extent in his further works, especially the literary essay titled The Myth of Sisyphus.