Literary Works of Camus The Stranger and Myth of Sisyphus - Assignment Example

Question Albert Camus’s Meursault, the protagonist in his work The Stranger, is absurdity personified. He is an enlargement and perhaps an exaggerated version of Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus. Both characters are condemned, by and large to a life not worth living. While Sisyphus might have been condemned to his fate, Meursault was born into it. Camus exploits the mythical Sisyphus of Greek mythology in his extended essay, The Myth of Sisyphus where he presents him as a metaphor for the absurd existence of man. Camus in turn created Meursault in The Stranger to illustrate the modern life and times of the absurd man. Sisyphus was an evil and vile man of Greek legend who was convicted for his crimes. His penance required that he roll a heavy rock to the top of a hill. The only difficulty with that job was that each time Sisyphus achieved his goal, the rock rolled back to the bottom of the hill and Sisyphus was required to commence his penance all over again. By comparison, the universe or the earth is Meursault’s mountain. Each day is comprised of repeating virtually the same activities of the day before and this is Meursault’s rock. Camus uses the unrelenting plight of Sisyphus to demonstrate the futility of life and discusses suicide in his extended essay The Myth of Sisyphus. He writes ‘The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.’ (Camus 1995 p51) Meursault, in The Stranger, is just such a man. In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus could have been describing Meursault when he wrote, ‘the workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.’ (Camus 1995 p. 52) Meursault is only aware of his absurd existence on a subconscious level, his detachment and unassuming nature reflects his subconscious awareness of the absurdity of existence. Meursault’s Sisyphus-like existence is manifested early on in The Stranger. The novel opens with this observation by Meursault, ‘Maman died today. Or yesterday, maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully Yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.’ (Camus 1989 p. 3) The clipped sentences reflect a man without consciousness. (Camus 1989 p.v) The inherent message is demonstrative of a meaningless life. Each day blends into the next with such duplicity that Meursault’s response to his mother’s death is aligned to his expectation that each day is just like the one before it. No matter what happens his absurd existence will continue, unchanged even by the death of mother. Even when he shoots and kills an Arab for no other reason than the hot, penetrating sun, Meursault views this as something that just happened. He demonstrates no emotions and is resigned to his fate in the same emotionless manner in which he was previously resigned to his meaningless life. While in awaiting his execution, Meursault has a moment of clarity. He awakens to the realization that the world is indifferent. ‘As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.’ (Camus 1989 pp 122-123) Meursault is not happy, he is perhaps content. He is content because during his incarceration he becomes poignantly aware that he was not alone in his plight. Everyone, the rich, the poor were all condemned to a meaningless existence, because at the end of it all there was death. No one had a free pass. Meursault realizes that he could have lived his life differently, but he ponders whether or not it really mattered. ‘Nothing, nothing mattered and I knew why….Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living.’ (Camus 1989 p.121) Meursault is content to leave life behind. He is happy to escape his condemnation to a Sisyphus-like existence. Moreover, he will take pleasure in leaving this indifferent world behind in the company of those remaining behind to continue their meaningless lives. His plight is over and he is all to please to depart. It is only near death that one seeks to relive or start over, but to Meursault, although he might have lived his life differently, it was not meant to be and the circumstances of his existence made sure of that. That was indeed his plight, to endure a meaningless existence and for that reason he was content with the prospect of death. Question 2 Meursault’s indifference and general detachment leads to his killing of the Arab and the consequential conviction. While this character portrays Camus’s identification with relative truths as opposed to meaningless truths as those found in the sciences and religion. Meursault also epitomizes the fact that the only enjoyment in life comes from physical experiences. On a subliminal level, Meursault is aware of this theory. It is only when he comes to face his own execution and is confronted by the justice system and the Chaplain does he awaken to this awareness. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that had Meursault not killed the Arab, he would have continued in his nonchalant existence. Meursault would have continued to subscribe to the mundane strictures of waking up, going to work and returning home. He did these things without emotion. He saw anything else as things that just happened. His mother’s death was not something that moved him to reflection or even grief and he did not believe in expressing emotions he did not have. The same detachment followed him when he killed the Arab and was confronted for it. That said, it was that confrontation that forced him to reflect on his mundane existence. This confrontation brings with it a realization. Meursault realizes on a conscious level that he is not immortal. Surely, he must have known this all along, but it is not until he faces execution that he is able to come to terms with it. And in coming to terms with it he is both angry and happy at the same time. In a final outburst in his confrontation with the Chaplain, Meursault reveals what he had come to realize in the aftermath of his incarceration. ‘But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he [the Chaplain] could ever be, sure of my life and sure about the death I had waiting for me….I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another.’ (Camus 1989 pp 120-121) In other words, if Meursault, could have chosen to start all over again he would have lived his life exactly as he had live it all along. Even in his realization that he was immortal and the universe around him was indifferent, he was no different. The universe would not change to suit him and his existence would always be absurd. Meursault’s coming to terms with his mortality only fortified his position that life was meaningless. Even when forced to admit that he had wished for a better life, Meursault admits that even the better life he desired was meaningless. ‘…It didn’t mean anymore than wishing to be rich, to be able to swim faster, or to have a more nicely shaped mouth. It was all the same.’ (Camus 1989 pp 119-120) Camus’s Meursault is indeed a stranger. He watches life with a sort of passive resistance. He sees no meaning in it and looks for none. Whereas, the remainder of society seeks come semblance of meaning in a meaningful life. The irony is that the society already condemned by a meaningless life attempts to attach some meaning to Meursault’s life by making much ado about his lack of emotions at his mother’s funeral and his lack of remorse upon killing the Arab. He is by and large convicted for this shortcoming rather than the crime itself. This indictment by society only serves to fortify Meursault’s resolve that life is absurd and any attempt at changing it would be futile. Be that as it may, it is almost a certainty that Meursault would not have been any more inclined to change his life had he not been forced to confront his mortality and society’s ignorance of its own mundane life. It is obvious that he had always taken the existentialist view of his life and all those intertwined in his world. While this realization had existed on a subliminal level, it was strong enough to color his daily conduct and his lack of emotions. Therefore, there is no reason to assume that he would have eventually changed the course of his life. The fact is, he’d always had the same existentialism realization. It was the murder and the aftermath that brought this realization to the surface. Bibliography Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus: and Other Essays. (1995) Albert A. Knopf Inc. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. (1989) Vintage International. Read More

Each day blends into the next with such duplicity that Meursault’s response to his mother’s death is aligned to his expectation that each day is just like the one before it. No matter what happens his absurd existence will continue, unchanged even by the death of mother. Even when he shoots and kills an Arab for no other reason than the hot, penetrating sun, Meursault views this as something that just happened. He demonstrates no emotions and is resigned to his fate in the same emotionless manner in which he was previously resigned to his meaningless life.

While in awaiting his execution, Meursault has a moment of clarity. He awakens to the realization that the world is indifferent. ‘As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.

’ (Camus 1989 pp 122-123) Meursault is not happy, he is perhaps content. He is content because during his incarceration he becomes poignantly aware that he was not alone in his plight. Everyone, the rich, the poor were all condemned to a meaningless existence, because at the end of it all there was death. No one had a free pass. Meursault realizes that he could have lived his life differently, but he ponders whether or not it really mattered. ‘Nothing, nothing mattered and I knew why….

Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living.’ (Camus 1989 p.121) Meursault is content to leave life behind. He is happy to escape his condemnation to a Sisyphus-like existence. Moreover, he will take pleasure in leaving this indifferent world behind in the company of those remaining behind to continue their meaningless lives.

His plight is over and he is all to please to depart. It is only near death that one seeks to relive or start over, but to Meursault, although he might have lived his life differently, it was not meant to be and the circumstances of his existence made sure of that. That was indeed his plight, to endure a meaningless existence and for that reason he was content with the prospect of death. Question 2 Meursault’s indifference and general detachment leads to his killing of the Arab and the consequential conviction.

While this character portrays Camus’s identification with relative truths as opposed to meaningless truths as those found in the sciences and religion. Meursault also epitomizes the fact that the only enjoyment in life comes from physical experiences. On a subliminal level, Meursault is aware of this theory. It is only when he comes to face his own execution and is confronted by the justice system and the Chaplain does he awaken to this awareness. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that had Meursault not killed the Arab, he would have continued in his nonchalant existence.

Meursault would have continued to subscribe to the mundane strictures of waking up, going to work and returning home. He did these things without emotion. He saw anything else as things that just happened. His mother’s death was not something that moved him to reflection or even grief and he did not believe in expressing emotions he did not have. The same detachment followed him when he killed the Arab and was confronted for it. That said, it was that confrontation that forced him to reflect on his mundane existence.

This confrontation brings with it a realization. Meursault realizes on a conscious level that he is not immortal.

Read More