If you’ve heard of the philosophical theory of Absurdism, you may have run across Albert Camus. Often strung together with Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, Camus rejected any connection with Sartre’s theories, or that of Nihilism, in favor of the idea that man’s quest for clarity and meaning within a disinterested universe was the ultimate absurdity. I would go on, but would it really matter?
Camus’ 1941 novel, The Stranger, was one of the most famous French novels of the 20th century. The novel’s Absurd hero, Mersault, leads a life devoid of meaning. The main idea being that ultimately, nothing mattered. Part one of his story begins with the death of his mother. He travels to the small Algerian village of Marengo to attend her funeral, but does not show any sadness at her passing. In fact, he’s more disturbed by the heat and his own physical discomfort than his mother’s death. His perceived insensitivity toward a dead family member later becomes the crux of the prosecution’s case for murder.
On the day after his mother’s funeral, Mersault goes for a swim at the beach, meets a woman named Marie, and they begin a sexual relationship. He befriends a man named Raymond, who beats his Arab girlfriend for cheating on him with another man. He asks Mersault to write a letter to the girl, imploring her to return, but only so Raymond can give her the beating she really deserves. To Mersault’s mind, none of it meant anything, but it distracted him from boredom. He did not love Marie, and he felt no misgivings about writing Raymond’s girlfriend.
The beating takes place; the police intervene, and Mersault acts as Raymond’s witness. A few days later, Raymond invites him and Marie to a friend’s beach house that Sunday. It is after this phone call that Mersault’s Absurdist mentality becomes clear. His boss offers him a position in Paris. Mersault does not dislike his life, so sees no reason for the change.
“When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered.”
Throughout the novel, you get the sense that Mersault is not an active participant in his own life. He is just along for the ride, reacting to situations as they happen, and he accepts this condition because it didn’t really matter.
Raymond arrives to pick up Marie and Mersault for their outing to the seaside near Algiers. He points out a group of Arab men lounging conspicuously across the street. One of the men is the brother of the girl that Raymond assaulted. At the beach, they meet Raymond’s friend, Masson, and go for a swim.
After lunch, the men take a walk along the shore and come upon three of the Arab men that Raymond and Mersault had seen earlier. The two groups scuffle; Raymond gets his arm cut up and his mouth slashed. After he’s patched up, Raymond and Mersault walk back down the beach for another confrontation. This time they find two of the men lounging in the shadow of a rock. Raymond draws a gun, but Mersault convinces him to give it over, in case something should happen. After a few threatening movements, the Arabs back off. Later, Mersault heads back out onto the beach alone. The sun beats down on him, clouding his mind with irritation and fatigue just as it had on the day of his mother’s funeral. He finds the last man, still in the shadow of the rock. The man brandishes a knife, the sun gets in Mersault’s eyes and he fires every bullet in the gun at the Arab’s body.
Part Two: The Trial
Mersault, charged with murder, sits in prison. He does not think about his crime or express remorse in any way. He does not consider himself a prisoner. It is another situation he must react to. After repeated interviews with a magistrate assigned to his case, the man begins to call Mersault, “Monsieur Antichrist,” because of his apparent lack of care for anything, even asking God for forgiveness.
During the trial, a bank of journalists sits across from Mersault, taking notes. At one point, Mersault notices the youngest of the reporters staring at him.
“All I could see in his slightly lopsided face were his two very bright eyes, which were examining me closely without betraying any definable emotion. And I had the odd impression of being watched by myself.”
Mersault’s general disassociation from himself finally becomes physical during the last days of his trial. He tries in vain to smile at his reflection, and fails to reassure Marie after the conviction because his body has ceased to obey his mind.
In the last few pages, Mersault demonstrates two of the three major traits of the Absurd hero: He rejects help from a higher power and accepts his absurd condition. At the culmination of a godless rant, he attacks the priest sent in to hear his confession, but through this tirade he attains inner peace by rejecting any hope for the future. Nothing he’d done during his short life mattered once he met his end by guillotine, France’s official execution device until 1981.
Camus wrote several essays and articles against the use of capital punishment, the most important of which was Réflexions sur la Guillotine. He won the Nobel Prize for these writings in 1957. He died in an automobile accident several years later.
His major contribution to philosophy was the idea of an absurd existence, though he mitigated its bleak outlook with the notion that in a pointless existence, man can create meaning through his decisions and interpretations. The Stranger is a great novel for provoking philosophical discussion, but dwell on it for too long or you’ll give yourself a case of mild depression. Then you won’t feel like doing much of anything beyond smoking cigarettes, drinking wine and contemplating your navel.
Rating: 4 of 5