Meursault’s whole attitude of “nothing really matters” and “we’re all going to die anyway” kind of annoys me and I relate to the other characters of the book who are unable to grasp his indifference. “Do you want my life to be meaningless?” asks the magistrate when Meursault brushes off religion as useless and irrelevant. While the chaplain and magistrate definitely come off as overbearing and suffocating Christians, I kind of sympathize with their reaction to Meursault’s philosophy. By saying he doesn’t have time for them, he is saying everything they do and work for is meaningless, that anything anyone works for is meaningless, and that’s a really depressing thought. It’s kind of true: everyone will die, nothing you do will change that. Most things don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. But my personality at least does not like being told that everything I do is meaningless. It’s a valid way to see things, but if I dwell on the meaninglessness of my existence then I am not doing anything for anybody, and while Meursault is perfectly content with this lifestyle, I am not. I think there’s a lot of meaning in little things like singing a song, getting a card from a friend, accomplishing something you didn't think you could, and being around people you care about. Meursault enjoys some things I would call meaningful, like admiring a sunset and swimming in the ocean and reconnecting with a neighbor. However Meursault doesn’t recognize these at meaningful. They don’t matter because in the long run, little things don’t make you live longer or change the course of the universe. These things matter to me because they affect the quality of the life I’m living and make me feel like I have a purpose. Meursault thinks having a purpose is ridiculous and made up, which is fine, it is sort of made up. But it's also something pretty crucial to human nature and fitting into society and I can understand why people take offense to his views (although this really shouldn't be the main argument against him in court).
Meursault's lack of emotion or purpose in The Stranger make for some interesting interactions with the religious characters like the examining magistrate and the chaplain. The scenes where the magistrate screams at Meursault and waves around the Crucifix, or where the chaplain cries and says Meursault must believe in God, don’t portray religious people, or people who believe in a greater purpose for the world, in a very positive light. They’re basically seen as insane, hypocritical, and unable to control their emotions, which is a pretty stark contrast to Meursault who is calm and a little too rational for us to be comfortable. Meursault is the one who has committed murder and yet Camus is much harsher on the religious people and the people of the court. By providing these absurd people to make fun of, Camus is able to make Meursault’s lack of belief in anything at all seem like a good quality, making it easier to ignore the morally questionable things he does as a result. As a religious person myself, it’s a little sad that the two religious characters in the book are absolutely horrible, and also that both Christians and Meursault claim to not judge people yet they are both judging each other pretty hard core. Both of these characters are so certain in how they think of the world and so sure of the meaning (or lack of) in their life, they are both a little intimidating to me.
We talked in class about “the Absurd” being humanity’s desire to give meaning to things in a meaningless universe, and how Meursault’s personality is based on an awareness of this absurdity. I feel like an awareness that the universe is ultimately unaffected by your presence is maybe a healthy thing, to keep everything in perspective and not get carried away by things that go wrong. But keeping this in mind, I don't think it's necessarily healthy to believe nothing you do matters because on a smaller scale, people are affected by things you do all the time. Meursault may not care much for them, but people matter to me quite a bit.
I think it's interesting how Meursault believes in the meaningless of life because death will always be on or approaching our doorstep, and yet, his actions cause death to quicken its pace. If Meursault hadn't killed that man, he probably would have lived to see another day, if not many more. His actions had meaning because then ended the life of another man. Unless, of course, if Meursault sees living as meaningless as well, then I feel like he has some clinical depression or some sort. In all, Meursault is a complex and seemingly depressing character whose philosophies on life would seem to only bring me down. I agree that, in my mind, the little things in life tend to have meaning. To each their own I guess.
ReplyDeleteI agree; Camus chooses a very simplistic view of religion and spirituality to portray in his novel, but at the same time I don't think its entirely unfair for him to do so. Such proponents of Christianity did/do exist, and even more so during the time of the publication of The Stranger. Given the ubiquity of Christianity at the time, it's likely that Camus had encountered it at some time, and perhaps due to these overbearing and traditionalist priests, was driven towards an atheistic perspective. Perhaps this explains Meursault's sudden outburst. I think Camus objects most strongly to the concept of a work for reward system (heaven/afterlife), which has continued to evolve to something more subtle and fulfilling over time. I doubt that Camus would object to one finding their purpose in "the absurd" by serving others or spreading happiness and kindness, which is much closer to a modern Christian's mission.
ReplyDeleteOn Camus's personal religious background, I read that he was raised Catholic, and became an atheist as he grew up largely from the influence of his uncle, who introduced him to anarchist ideas and communism. I think Camus' negative representation of the Christian characters is, like you said, more because of the philosophical disagreements he has with them rather than a negative personal experience.
DeleteI can totally understand the chaplain's reaction to Meursault. If someone told me that my life was meaningless and that there was nothing I can do to change that, then of course I would be upset. Being told that nothing matters is depressing and as human beings, it's hard to grasp the concept that our labors are for nothing. We are born to survive and while we may eventually die, it's our mission to focus on the present. In the novel, Meursault may seem a heartless guy but his body is certainly able to recognize the need to live. If you flip back to the section where Meursault is thinking about his upcoming execution, there's a scene where he describes his heart pumping and his anxiety about being killed. He is able to recognize that he wants to survive and to say that, there must be a meaning in living. So, I agree this book may argue against meaning in the universe but it also points out that it is impossible to want to live without meaning (even if, in Meursault's case, that means just being in the present).
ReplyDeleteAs you said, it doesn't seem very healthy to believe that nothing you do matters. And that's why every one around Meursault is put off by him. They all understand that small things have a very personal impact and, while Meursault likes to look at the very large picture, it's okay to live in a smaller world.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's his friends who seem to admire Meursault's nonchalance. He has a very distinct and interesting personality and I am torn between feeling hopeless and feeling insightful.
Meursalt's philosophical views are extremely depressing. Going through life without a purpose doesn't give anyone a reason to get up in the morning. This is why I can understand the reactions of the chaplain and magistrate to hearing Meursalt talk about the meaningless of life. When someone tells you that the work you have spent so long on is useless, you are bound to be upset. No one likes being useless. And even though Camus was showing them as angry and a bit controlling, I don't think that they were being portrayed particularly badly. I think that Camus was using them to describe the general views that the general population held. He wanted to show that Meursalt's beliefs were potentially radical and dangerous and that having them would basically cause a riot.
ReplyDeleteI think it is easy to overreact to Meursault's use of "doesn't matter" or "meaningless." In the conversation with the chaplain, Meursault rejects the idea of a larger, external meaning to life itself--that existence itself is part of some greater schema wherein our actions have meaning and consequence. In his view, death negates any such meaning. But individual actions are still meaningful within the context of a life--in this view, our lives are ours to create, and we life *as if* our actions were meaningful, in rebellion against the absurd universe that would negate that meaning. It's just that, in Camus' view, that meaning is never guaranteed from the outside.
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