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Indifference and Passivity. The novel opens with Meursault 's indifference at his mother's funeral and the consternation it provokes among the people around him. This dynamic recurs much more starkly at the trial, where the account of Meursault's "insensitivity" towards his mother 's death proves to be what ultimately turns the jury against him.
- Relationships
Throughout the novel, Meursault remains unable to experience...
- Chance and Interchangeability
Thus, though "the stranger" of the title refers primarily to...
- Meaninglessness of Life and The Absurd
From Meursault 's perspective the world is meaningless, and...
- Importance of Physical Experience
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The...
- Indifference and Passivity
The novel opens with Meursault 's indifference at his...
- Book 1, Chapter 1
Meursault receives a telegram from the old person's home in...
- Relationships
- The Irrationality of The Universe
- The Meaninglessness of Human Life
- The Importance of The Physical World
Though The Strangeris a work of fiction, it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual lives and human existence in general have no rational meaning or order. However, because people have difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly attempt to identify or create ration...
A second major component of Camus’s absurdist philosophy is the idea that human life has no redeeming meaning or purpose. Camus argues that the only certain thing in life is the inevitability of death, and, because all humans will eventually meet death, all lives are all equally meaningless. Meursault gradually moves toward this realization through...
The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life. Throughout The Stranger, Meursault’s attention centers on his own body, on his ...
Theme #1. Irrationality. The irrationality of human actions and decisions is one of the major themes of The Stranger. Camus presents the character of Meursault to show this irrationality in human actions, decisions, life, and relationships. For example, Meursault does not take his mother’s death to heart and, aside from a brief leave of ...
Passivity. The Stranger (or at least Meursault) conveys the message that passivity is an acceptable way of experiencing life and treating others. For the most part, our main man is an observer—a specta... Struggling with the themes of Albert Camus's The Stranger? We've got the quick and easy lowdown on them here.
The Stranger is famous for its themes of existentialism and absurdism. Existentialism is a school of philosophy that attempts to deal with the dread or anxiety brought about by a seemingly uncaring and meaningless world. The search for purpose or meaning in an uncaring universe is a key element of existentialism, and it emerges as a key theme ...
Camus develops three interrelated themes in The Stranger: the meaninglessness of life and the detachment that results from embracing this view of the world; the effect of physical sensation on someone who does not try to direct his or her own life; and the pervasiveness and dangers of miscommunication. Because Meursault believes that life has ...
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The Stranger Themes. The main themes in The Stranger are absurdity, colonialism, and free will. Absurdity: Meursault’s struggle reflects Camus’s broader philosophical concerns about the ...
