In this blog post, I will examine how Meursault’s indifference and perception of death in Camus’s ‘The Stranger’ connect to the themes of absurdity and freedom, focusing on the unfolding of events in Part 1 and the trial scene in Part 2.
Work Analysis
‘The Stranger’ garnered significant attention immediately upon its publication in 1942 and has been hailed as a masterpiece of the post-World War II era. Through the protagonist Meursault, this novel questions the legitimacy of social values and the contradictions of human existence, continuing to provoke strong reactions not only at the time of its publication but also in the years that followed.
The work is divided into six chapters in Part 1 and five chapters in Part 2. Part 1 calmly narrates the events Meursault, a low-level office worker, experiences in his daily life—his mother’s funeral, encounters and pleasures at the beach, and his involvement in a fight between friends—and shows the sequence of events that ultimately leads to murder. Part 2 depicts how he confronts society through his time in prison and his trial.
The novel’s opening sentence, “Today, my mother died. Or maybe it was yesterday,” succinctly reveals Meursault’s attitude. Rather than being emotionally swept up by his mother’s death, he observes the situation with a detached perspective, and this attitude remains consistent throughout the work. Although he does show passion in a single scene where he yells at the priest, even that is interpreted as a different expression of his existing attitude rather than a fundamental shift in perspective.
In Part 1, the day after his mother’s funeral, Meursault meets Marie at the beach, where they spend a pleasant time together and have sex that night. When Marie asks if he loves her, he finds the question meaningless and replies that he probably doesn’t. Abstract plans for the future—such as marriage or a promotion—hold no significance for him; only the reality before his eyes matters.
One day, while getting caught up in a fight involving his friend Raymond, whom he had recently befriended by chance, Meursault shoots and kills an Arab man with a pistol without any malice. This murder is not merely an event that turns him into a criminal; it serves as a catalyst that awakens the sense of absurdity that permeates the entire work.
In Part 2, Meursault, brought to trial, confronts the gap between social ethics and personal attitudes. The absurdity he feels between the infinite universe and finite humanity deepens his loneliness; he maintains a calm yet indifferent attitude, feeling alienated from others and the world.
Throughout the trial, Meursault often observes the proceedings as if he were a spectator. He acts as if he were transcending the fate or punishment that awaits him, because he holds only memories of a world he has lost and has no promises or hopes for the future. This attitude embodies the very spirit of “The Stranger” as portrayed in the novel.
The work reveals a facet of the human psyche through the experience of absurdity. The feeling of being an “outsider” is not a mere abstract concept, but a concrete experience that makes even the faces of those closest to him feel alien. Meursault is the character who calmly accepts the tragic conclusion arising from this fundamental absurdity and puts it into practice.
Meursault attributes the reason for his murder to the “sun” or his surroundings and feels almost no guilt. He boldly accepts death as a world of its own, ultimately revealing how the allure of death acts as a form of liberation.
Always faithful to his present desires, he acts without understanding or calculation and appears to feel no sense of responsibility for his actions. At the same time, he possesses an honest and innocent side, and Camus himself once described Meursault as the “only Christ” of the modern age. Through this novel, Camus sought to explore the absurdity within humanity, society, and life, and to define the true outsider who responds with human dignity.
Life and the Author Viewed from the Edge of Nihilism
“Death” flows as a consistent theme at the heart of ‘The Stranger’. From his mother’s death to the murder, the trial, and the death sentence, death forms the central axis of the work from beginning to end. Camus accepts this death as an absolute truth. An attitude that acknowledges the fact that everyone eventually dies—whether by natural causes, murder, or execution—permeates the entire work.
So, once death is taken for granted, what remains for humanity? The answer Camus presents stems from a nihilistic perspective, but it is not a simple abandonment of life. Meursault’s attitude reveals a sense of futility in the secular sense, yet at the same time, it reveals a reflection that seeks to reach a different dimension of freedom and truth through that futility.
Meursault does not attach any special meaning to life’s events, whether at his mother’s funeral or in his subsequent romantic relationships. He first considers practical matters, such as the hassle of going to the nursing home or the inconvenience of having to notify his employer. After the funeral, he spends his time leisurely at the beach and even sleeps with Marie. When Marie proposes marriage, he keeps his emotional distance, saying that although he does not love her, he will marry her if that is what she wants.
His attitude after the death sentence is not much different from before. While his lawyer argues passionately, Meursault maintains a detached stance, observing the trial itself from a distance. This detachment is not mere indifference; it is also the result of accepting the universal condition of death.
Camus’s intention becomes clear in the scene where Meursault screams at the priest not to pray for him. He argues that death can grant equality to everyone. If we acknowledge the fact that everyone eventually faces death in one way or another, ironically, we can experience true freedom in life.
In one passage of the novel, Meursault comes to understand the freedom his mother felt at the nursing home. It is the realization that even at the very end of life, someone can be ready for something new and to live again, and that those moments themselves, in a certain sense, offer freedom. This insight reveals a new perspective on life stemming from the equality of death.
Albert Camus’s philosophical background is revealed more clearly in his essay-style works, particularly ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ and ‘The Rebel’. “Absurdity” and “rebellion” are central themes in Camus’s literature; while it is difficult to summarize them in a few words, their fundamental nature is clear: a perspective that views human existence as contradictory and imperfect.
So what are the two fundamental elements that constitute the contradictions of life?
Camus’s Core Ideas: Absurdity and Rebellion
We could call it “despair in the face of death and the joy of life,” or “solitude and love,” or even “evil and good.” However, for Camus, the crux lies precisely in this lucid recognition of such opposites. He consistently explored this issue in ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ and ‘The Rebel’, and confirmed the same truth in his own experiences (as documented in ‘Betwixt and Between’). The fact that his debut work was titled ‘Betwixt and Between’ and his final work ‘Exile and the Kingdom’ demonstrates his ongoing interest in these polar opposites.
According to Camus, humans, as rational beings, possess a “desire for reason” that seeks to understand the meaning of the world. However, the world does not inherently offer any clear meaning that humans can comprehend. The contradiction that arises between these two opposing forces—the human desire for reason and the world’s irrationality—is precisely what constitutes “absurdity.” Camus views this absurdity as an inescapable fate for humans, that is, the human condition.
Not everyone feels this absurdity at all times. Those whose consciousness is not fully awake are absorbed in their daily routines and fail to perceive the absurdity. This is because, in a life that runs mechanically according to habit, they do not question the futility of the world. On the other hand, when consciousness is fully awake and the absurdity is clearly recognized, humanity is finally revealed; for Camus, that recognition itself is human dignity.
The attitude of facing absurdity head-on—without attempting to resolve it, but rather accepting it as it is and affirming life—is what Camus refers to as “rebellion.” Rebellion is a positive response to life that neither succumbs to despair nor escapes meaninglessness.
Plot Development and Character Analysis of ‘The Stranger’
‘The Stranger’ is set in Algeria, and the work reveals absurdity through the protagonist Meursault’s ordinary daily life, the nihilism that emerges within it, and his clashes with society. In the early part of the novel, the day after his mother’s funeral, he goes swimming, has a physical relationship with a woman, and laughs while watching a comedy film. While these actions come as a shock to the reader, for Meursault himself, they are merely a continuation of his daily routine.
A closer look reveals the sense of futility he feels. As one passage in the novel states, “It was a gloomy Sunday, just like any other. My mother had already been buried. I had to go back to work. After all, nothing has changed.” This realization reveals Meursault’s inner world. The fact that even his mother’s death fails to bring about a fundamental change in his worldview is the key to understanding his actions—his encounter with Marie the next day, swimming with Raymond, and ultimately, the incident in which he shoots and kills the Arab because of the sun.
During the trial, his behavior on the day of his mother’s funeral is treated as crucial evidence, even more so than the incident itself. The defense attorney, the prosecutor, and the judge all take issue with the fact that he did not shed tears and dozed off on the day of the funeral. When asked if he loved his mother, Meursault replies, “I loved her as much as anyone else does,” but the court’s reasoning interprets his behavior—which deviated from social norms—as a sign of malice rather than his emotional state.
Meursault fails to view these events as his own doing and acts as if the crime were staged by chance. He fails to find any meaningful connection between his actions and thus cannot offer a proper defense. Others view him as a cold-hearted man who did not love his mother and as a delinquent who associates with criminal groups; ultimately, he is sentenced to death.
Only after receiving the death sentence does he feel a strong attachment to life, but the world is already indifferent to him. Facing this indifference clearly for the first time, he instead accepts the world’s indifference as “affectionate indifference” and feels that he is still happy. At the end of the novel, through his cry expressing the hope that many onlookers will greet him with shouts of hatred on the day of his execution, he reveals an attitude of accepting his relationship with the world as it is, right up until his final moment.
A few months later, Camus added commentary on this novel in ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’. In that essay, he describes how the repetition of daily life—the same rhythm of waking up, commuting, working, eating, and sleeping—mechanizes the human spirit and robs it of hope or illusion, leaving only momentary physical pleasure. In such a world, humans feel like “strangers,” and since neither memories of a lost homeland nor hopes for a promised land exist, they see no salvation.
Camus explains why Meursault’s actions in the novel are incomprehensible to others using a metaphor. Imagine a person making a phone call from behind a glass window. From this side, we cannot hear what they are saying, but we can observe their seemingly meaningless gestures. A situation where we cannot understand why that person is making such movements—it is precisely this point, where the meaning of those movements fails to communicate, that constitutes the phenomenon of the absurd. Through this glass window, Camus sought to illustrate the failure of communication between the characters, society, and the reader.
This disconnect in consciousness also signifies the collapse of social order. Thus, ‘The Stranger’ transcends the realm of a simple crime novel and is read as an insight into the absurd and a sharp indictment of society. As Sartre noted, this work—though seemingly dry and disorderly on the surface—is a well-crafted, deeply human piece.
Camus’s Life and Literary Legacy
Camus was born in 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria. His father was a laborer and his mother was of Spanish descent; due to his family’s poverty, he worked his way through school until he graduated from the National University of Algiers. His experience working at a local newspaper led to his later career in journalism and as a reporter.
In 1934, he briefly joined the Communist Party but left in 1935; captivated by theater, he organized a troupe called “Théâtre du Travail,” where he adapted and directed plays. In particular, he played the role of Ivan Karamazov in ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. In 1938, he wrote a critical article for a local newspaper about Jean-Paul Sartre’s ‘Nausea’, stating that “the ugly side of human nature was emphasized”; this reveals one aspect of Camus’s view of humanity.
Around 1940, he completed “The Stranger” and Part 1 of “The Myth of Sisyphus,” publishing them in 1942. Given that this was a turbulent period marked by World War II, the timing of these publications holds significant meaning. Beginning in 1942, he became the Paris editor of the anti-Nazi resistance journal “Combat,” participating in the resistance movement, and later served as the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
Although he was initially on friendly terms with Sartre, the two parted ways after Sartre harshly criticized his 1951 essay “The Rebel,” prompting Camus to publicly refute the criticism. After publishing the novel “The Fall” in 1956, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. Although his untimely death in 1960 prevented him from producing any further works, his published works exerted a profound influence, coming to represent the spirit of an entire generation.
‘The Stranger’ is Camus’s masterpiece, having gained a global readership; in particular, by reflecting the postwar turmoil and shifts in human values, it had a significant impact on the existentialist literary movement. It was first translated and introduced in Korea in 1952, though it was sometimes misunderstood as mere popular nihilism. However, the essence of Camus’s work lies not in passively accepting nihilism, but in confronting absurdity head-on, rebelling against it, and striving to uphold human dignity and integrity.
Camus’s literature has been recognized for its contribution to presenting and establishing new values during an era of war and turmoil. He is remembered not merely as a writer defined by traditional greatness, but as a sincere writer who sought social justice based on personal integrity and human dignity. His works from 1942 hold an important place not only in understanding the spirit of that era but also in understanding the spirit of subsequent generations.
