As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed a few days ago, I saw a Humans of New York video clip that reminded me of The Stranger. A boy wearing a suit was sharing his life motto: “The meaning to life is that there is no meaning, and because of that, you have to make there be a meaning for the people that haven't realized it yet”. In addition to being incredibly insightful, his advice speaks to the same themes that Camus does in The Stranger, and is not as different from Meursault’s worldview as it might seem.
Absurdism, a philosophical school of thought developed by Camus, centers around the conflict between humans’ attempts to find inherent meaning in life and ultimate inability to do so. One key question is how humans should go forward once having recognized this absurdity. Camus and other absurdist philosophers present three possibilities: suicide, belief in the existence of a reality beyond the absurd (whether religious or more general), and acceptance of the absurd. The solution endorsed by Camus, as we see in The Stranger, is the acceptance of the absurd. Meursault detests the fact that the method of his execution forces him to become complicit in hoping his execution succeeds, and hopes in the last line of the novel “that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate” so that he can at least feel defiant despite being powerless (123). Meursault also rejects religion, and any attempts to try and convince him there is greater meaning or a life after this one. The one time we see any display of emotion or passion from Meursault is when he lashes out at the chaplain after his many attempts to reach and sway Meursault. The approach Camus believed in was recognizing the Absurd, but continuing to live and create your own meaning. Meursault seems to have been living with the knowledge that there is no larger meaning in life throughout the novel, but only truly grapples and comes to terms with it in the last chapter, saying “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”. He recognizes that the universe is indifferent--there is no greater meaning--but in spite, or perhaps because of this, is happy and able to create some meaning of his own.
This is where I saw the similarities between his outlook and that of the boy interviewed for Humans of New York. Both agree that there is no larger meaning in the universe, and any meaning that humans can find they have to create for themselves. Where their philosophies differ is that Camus would be against perpetuating in any way the “delusion” that there is meaning inherent in the universe, while the boy believes in finding meaning by creating it for others.
Although I’m not going to analyze them in this post, I also found it interesting how relevant some of the comments on the post were to other aspects of The Stranger:
- “This is a dangerous worldview.”
- “That’s literally what I think about life. To me life has no meaning, so just enjoy it while it lasts.”
- “If life has no meaning, why is it a bad thing to go around killing each other?”
This is an incredible post. I also follow Humans of NY and I found that boy's post inspiring. The fact that he wears a suit everyday to make himself feel good is sweet. Anyway. The Stranger is a bit of a dark twist on the ideas the boy presented about life having no meaning. Although, for some reason, knowing that Camus is making a point about absurdism is enough for me to accept The Stranger for what it is. Before I knew Camus' message, however, reading The Stranger was uncomfortable and disconcerting. How ironic, that the only thing I needed to accept the book was validation that Meursault's narrative had no meaning. The comments you mentioned at the end are also very intriguing, especially the last one. I wish we could've discussed this in class.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, making meaning definitely seems like the point of life to me. And critically, I think it's the thing that Meursault misses. He recognizes the inherent meaninglessness of life but fails to recognize the great opportunity of life that it is to create meaning for ourselves. Meursault is a twisted version of a person. I don't usually like HONY (it's awfully precious) but I think that the way you describe that boy sounds like the good side of Meursault.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bella; Meursault doesn't make enough meaning out of his life to me, and I think that's part of my frustration with him as a character.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Meursault's realization about his own happiness would carry more weight if he'd done more work towards finding happiness throughout the novel?
I also agree with Vicente and Bella. Ultimately we determine how life treats us- we can choose not to let the little things bother us because they're insignificant while enjoying the good things because we must designate happiness as our meaning for life. Almost everybody, however, sways to one of the extremes. Most people (myself included) take everything way too seriously and life becomes a torture device because of it. A select few, including Meursault, reject everything as insignificant and pointless, and thus get absolutely nothing out of life. I believe this is why Meursault had to die- Camus showed us that, with Meursault's absurdist view, it made little difference whether he was alive or dead. Great and engaging post!
ReplyDeleteWow this is an incredibly insightful post. I really appreciated how you provided a lot of good information about absurdism and Camus' intentions.
ReplyDeleteI too, like nearly all of the other commenters, was frustrated with Meursault's inability to seemingly find some meaning in his life. But I do agree with you that in the end he seems to be at peace with how he lived his life. So although he doesn't find a "meaning" as WE might expect, he finds his own version of the "meaning of life", which is that he has learned that the world is indifferent.
Does that make any sense? I still think at the end of the day, Meursault is an odd individual, and I wished he had found his happiness earlier, like Vicente mentioned. But he doesn't seem to have many regrets, either.
Wow this is a really interesting post! I think the idea of life being inherently meaningless sounds a little grim but perhaps the meaning is derived from looking for a meaning? So like the meaning of life is looking for meaning even if it may not be there? Nice touch with the comments at the end
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see the response to a statement like this on a global scale. I think in class we often isolated Meursault, yet comment 2 brings into light that some people actually assimilate with him. This is a really good post, very powerful!
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