This Is How I Feel About _The_Stranger_

Camus’ The Stranger is a book that I have heard about dozens of times throughout my high school career, but never sat down and read. Fortunately, a twist of fate involving a job in a bookshop and a free read for English class lead me to it, and I was impressed by the depth and beauty.
I thought that the translator did a really fantastic job. I noticed the language was very simplistic, but Meursault went into excruciating detail describing the scene around him. I felt the discursive monologue really aided in displaying Meursault’s detachment from his own life. Truthfully, that is mostly what I picked up on and, only after reading some articles online did I notice other aspects, like the extent of the absurdity in Meursault’s life.
After placing the concept of absurdism into my head, I was amused by the accidental juxtaposition of Slaughterhouse Five and The Stranger in my life. I found that the two protagonists, both Meursault and Billy Pilgrim, are not so dissimilar. Both are men faced with raw absurdity who deal with this true problem by adapting a defeatist attitude and detaching themselves from reality
Where they differ is their contexts. It’s not Billy Pilgrim’s fault that he has been tossed into World War Two, but for Meursault, it’s not that simple. Meursault is very much in control of his own life, yet denies any responsibility for his own actions. However, I must admit, when Meursault is being questioned in court and he blames the sun for his killing of the Arab, I was torn. I felt that anger and ridicule was the knee jerk reaction that answer was intended to elicit. I thought about it and in the context of my own life it made sense. Sometimes we, as human beings, react to things negatively, like when we are hungry or overheated. I appreciated that Camus presented the validity in one’s physiological responses, yet applied it in a place like a courtroom, where firm reasoning is required, so as to accent the dilemma of trying to defend oneself despite the feeling of futility in defending a senseless act.
Camus seems to be arguing that one cannot let oneself simply “go with the flow.” Meursault asserts that being decisive is pointless because in the end “it’s all the same”, but consequently, Meursault allowing himself to be controlled by the outside—nature, in both senses of the word—displays the tragedies that can occur when one lets his or her self slide.
Meursault’s attitude is not completely inhuman, but it is his inability to feel true compassion, matched with his staunch honesty confuses and irritates the court members, whom, one can be lead to believe, represent society as a whole. Again, Camus does not seem to be arguing that it is crucial for one to integrate well into society, but he does suggest that interaction should be dealt with by grace and delicacy. Given that the placement of The Stranger in my reading schedule was so perfect, I found Meursault to be a fascinating character to digest and I wish that we could have discussed the novel in class as a group.