Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): The Character of Meursault

The Character of Meursault in Camus The rum (The Outsider) Raymond typifies the beast-character in Camus The Stranger (The Outsider). He is like Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire (T. Williams), emotional and manly. forcible solutions come naturally to him, as we see when he mistreats his ex-girlfriend. Ideally, society is precisely the opposite law and order attempt to solve things fairly and justly. I propose that Meursault is somewhere between these two extremes and that this is the reason why he is a societal outcast. This metaphor explains his major actions in the book as he struggles to keep his identity, his personality comes in conflict with the norms of society and he is shut down. Just as an animal sticks to instincts, Meursault has a hard eon feeling emotions such as remorse or compassion. Even the start-off page shows us this. Just as an animal leaves its family when it is old enough, neer to return, when Meursault hears of his mothers death he is unattached, even uncaring. He had similar feelings when he direct her to live in the old peoples home. Meursault has quite a passion for women he starts dating Marie the very day after he finds out of the death. scarcely like most animals, marriage is basically nonexistent for him though he ac comeledges it, it holds little meaning. When he is isolated in jail, he dreams of women not Marie, whom he has been seeing for some time, but women in general. Like an animal he feels the urge to mate without any desire for monogamy. An animal has to focus on the present in order to survive, and as far as we know doesnt spend much time cogitating about its past. Meursault always lives in the present, so his lack of remorse. This beast-like quality is one that get... ...s Meursault is not able, because of his very nature, to believe in a hereafter. His human side gives in to his animal side at the end when the chaplain tries forcibly to make Meursault see the light. His animal feels the threat of univ erse tamed, or converted to the ways of human society, and so he explodes to just himself. Only twice in the novel does Meursault experience extreme pressure, once from nature and once from society, and at these points he gives himself over to his beast. This proves devastating from a certain point of view the first time he compromises his chances of living, and the stand by time he compromises his chance of an after livelihood. This self-preservation instinct is the only thing that keeps him in touch with his bestial side, and in spite of these consequences he triumphs over life in that he remains unique, he does not conform.