The Absurdity of Existence: Camus and Meursault’s Journey

On November 7, 1913, Albert Camus, known for his ideas on the absurdity of life, was born in Algeria. He passed away in Villeblevin on January 5, 1960, at the age of 46 due to an accident. Many people started to discover Camus through his first novel, The Stranger, which began to gain recognition and even won the Novel Award in Literature in 1957. Through this book, he introduced new ideas and created a school of thought in existentialism called absurdism.

Understanding Camus’ philosophy can be tough because he needs to clearly and systematically explain absurdism. Many people tend to see him more as a writer than a philosopher, partly because of his metaphorical language and typical absurdist exaggeration. However, his philosophical ideas are expressed in a literary style, more than just as straightforward thoughts.

He invites readers to experience his philosophical ideas tangibly through emotional language.

The Stranger tells the story of a fictional character named Meursault, who is melancholic yet passive. Meursault does not seem to have much zest for life, which is evident in how he goes about his daily routine. His indifference highlights the absurdity and meaninglessness of life, especially when most people mourn the loss of a loved one. In contrast, Meursault reacts as if nothing significant has happened.

Meursault understands that life goes on, whether his mother is alive or not, and he continues with his daily habits. Nothing changes for him. He observes the world around him, often watching busy people on the street through the narrow window of his apartment. He sees them as if they are performers in a theater, and he reflects on the characteristics of everything and everyone around him.

Meursault views reality from a distance, feeling like a stranger in a world filled with busy people. He contemplates the scene outside, recognizing it as a reality shaped by the crowd and his perspective. Camus and his ideas about absurdity and philosophical suicide highlight the differences between individuals and their environments, focusing on people’s thoughts and routines rather than their actions, which often reject the surrounding world.

During a beach vacation with friends, Meursault gets involved in a conflict with some Arabs. He approaches one of them and, without hesitation, shoots him three times, killing him. He feels neither guilt nor fear; it is as if he finally finds the answer he is searching for all along.

Meursault was willing to turn himself in and face trial, but even in prison, he felt like nothing had changed and that life was just going on as usual. During the trial, he remained indifferent; nothing made him particularly happy or sad. He answered the judge, jury, and prosecutor’s questions loudly and honestly, stating that if he killed the Arabs, it was not out of hatred or desire.

Most of the questions aimed at Meursault did not really focus on the shooting itself. Instead, they dug into his personal life, portraying him as unnatural or strange, even asking about his mother or why he did not just shoot non-Arabs. In the end, Meursault was found guilty and sentenced to death for his impulsive act. He hoped that people would greet his death with insults and contempt rather than indifference at the end of his story.

Meursault is a young man, but he is different from most people in society. He becomes a stranger as he starts to realize the meaninglessness and absurdity of life. He views life as a long journey, where each moment is just a temporary stop, like filling up at a gas station or resting in a small apartment before continuing. Albert Camus explains that Meursault chooses to be a genuine person according to his own will; he embraces absurdity and refuses to be fake or lie about his feelings, which emphasizes his rejection of philosophical suicide.

Being true to oneself means not feeling grief over death, recognizing the wrong assumptions about murder, and not wanting to conform to societal expectations. Essentially, Meursault struggles against loneliness and teaches that life keeps moving forward.

On a long, emotionless road, absurdity represents the idea that humans cannot really determine the purpose or meaning of life. It is mainly about the human condition and the confusion of what it means to be alive. The uncertainty surrounding life’s purpose is absurd in itself. Camus also points out that life is hard to grasp and too unnatural to be understood through reason and logic.

However, Meursault’s character reflects an awareness of this absurdity. He chooses to live in the past, present, and future. Absurdism is best illustrated through the myth of Sisyphus, a king from Corinth whom Zeus cursed to push a rock up a hill for eternity. As Camus describes in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, this story, in its many versions, shows Sisyphus endlessly pushing the rock without ever being able to stop it from rolling back down.

Every time Sisyphus managed to push the rock to the top, it would roll back down, forcing him to start all over again. For Camus, humans are like Sisyphus, representing the struggle of consciousness that often feels meaningless and without purpose.

Even though he did not see the results of right or wrong actions as a curse stemming from suffering, Camus viewed this phenomenon as a part of life that humans have to endure. Everyone has their stone that they want to push to the top, just to see if it rolls back down again. That is how Camus describes the absurdity and meaninglessness of life—humans just trying to get by without really knowing what life is all about.

The meaninglessness of life is like a journey where you are trying to reach a destination. However, once you achieve that goal, then what? The answer is to find another goal, and this cycle continues until every person dies. Sisyphus represents a momentary human will, willing to obey all absurdities even if they do not change anything in life. The real question is not how Sisyphus should finish his task; it is whether he is happy doing it.

The impermanence of life suggests that life can be quite enjoyable. Camus emphasizes Sisyphus’s story as a reflection of human reality, where he finds satisfaction in pushing the rock. By refusing to give in to death, Camus also offers a way to cope with life’s meaninglessness by suggesting that life is about finding happiness itself. The search for meaning will always go on because life is never truly objective.

Each person’s experience of life is unique. We all keep pushing our rocks to the top, and it is just a matter of time before they roll back down again. Desire and curiosity will always drive us, even if it feels pointless at times.

References

• Camus, A. (1942). The Stranger (S. Gilbert, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1942)
• Camus, A. (1942). The Myth of Sisyphus (J. O’Brien, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1942)
• McBride, K. (2019). Understanding Absurdism: A Guide to Camus and Existentialism. Bloomsbury Academic.
• McCarthy, P. (2015). The Philosophy of Albert Camus. Cambridge University Press.
• O’Brien, J. (2004). Camus: A Critical Study. Cambridge University Press.
• Sutherland, D. (2018). Existentialism and Absurdism: A Study of Camus and Sartre. Routledge.
• Solomon, R. C. (2006). From Rationalism to Existentialism: The Existentialists and Their Critics. Rowman & Littlefield.