'The Outsider' - an overview
Though The Outsider is a work of fiction, it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of absurdity:
1. 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 rational structure and meaning in their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity’s futile attempt to find rational order where none exists - neither the external world in which Meursault lives nor the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possess any rational order. Meursault, the protagonist, has no discernable reason for his actions. The idea that things sometimes happen for no reason, and that events sometimes have no meaning is disruptive and threatening to society.
2. 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 equally meaningless. Paradoxically, only after Meursault reaches this seemingly dismal realization is he able to attain happiness. His liberation from this false hope means he is free to live life for what it is.
3. Meursault’s interest in the physical world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life.
4. Moments of watching and observation reflect humanity’s endless search for meaning, which Camus found absurd. The constant watching in The Outsider emphasizes the importance of the tangible, visible details of the physical world in a universe where there is no grander meaning. Meursault watches the external world passively, absorbing details but not judging what he sees.
5. The courtroom symbolizes humanity’s futile attempts to find rational explanations for the irrational events of the universe.
6. Christianity stands in opposition to Camus’s absurdist worldview. Whereas absurdism is based on the idea that human life is irrational and purposeless, Christianity conceives of a rational order for the universe based on God’s creation and direction of the world, and it invests human life with higher metaphysical meaning. Meursault rejects all systems that seek to define a rational order within human existence, and this defiance causes Meursault to be branded a threat to the social order.
1. 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 rational structure and meaning in their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity’s futile attempt to find rational order where none exists - neither the external world in which Meursault lives nor the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possess any rational order. Meursault, the protagonist, has no discernable reason for his actions. The idea that things sometimes happen for no reason, and that events sometimes have no meaning is disruptive and threatening to society.
2. 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 equally meaningless. Paradoxically, only after Meursault reaches this seemingly dismal realization is he able to attain happiness. His liberation from this false hope means he is free to live life for what it is.
3. Meursault’s interest in the physical world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life.
4. Moments of watching and observation reflect humanity’s endless search for meaning, which Camus found absurd. The constant watching in The Outsider emphasizes the importance of the tangible, visible details of the physical world in a universe where there is no grander meaning. Meursault watches the external world passively, absorbing details but not judging what he sees.
5. The courtroom symbolizes humanity’s futile attempts to find rational explanations for the irrational events of the universe.
6. Christianity stands in opposition to Camus’s absurdist worldview. Whereas absurdism is based on the idea that human life is irrational and purposeless, Christianity conceives of a rational order for the universe based on God’s creation and direction of the world, and it invests human life with higher metaphysical meaning. Meursault rejects all systems that seek to define a rational order within human existence, and this defiance causes Meursault to be branded a threat to the social order.