The primary character in The Stranger by Albert Camus is Meursault, who is the embodiment of author Camus’s views of existentialism: try though we might to imbue our lives with meaning, life essentially has none other than merely to exist. Thus, any attempt to associate actions or occurrences with meaning or to expect rationality is absurd. Meursault makes no attempt to find meaning in his life and the characters around him who try to see meaning in his actions fail to find any.
Camus includes a newspaper story about a family in Czechoslovakia to further convey this. The segment allows Camus show Meursault’s reaction to the newspaper story.
The very opening of The Stranger reveals that Meursault's general emotional state is characterized largely by indifference. His primary desires revolve around satisfying his fundamental bodily needs: to eat, to sleep, to relieve himself and to fulfill his sexual needs. For this reason, there is a lot of description in the book about these actions.
The book opens with:
MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.” The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.
He cannot be sure! The very opening line is the ultimate in absurdity. It conveys his indifference to the person who gave him life and to the universe itself. It also conveys the absurdity of the telegram he receives. Camus does not say that Meursault did not love his mother, but rather that he does not even inquire about the exact date on which she died. Later, when he is examined by the magistrate, he expresses similar indifference to his situation and to G-d, just as he expresses a blasé attitude to the story of the Czech family.
In jail, Meursault passes the time by reading an old newspaper article about a man who left his village in Czechoslovakia and made his fortune abroad. He returns to surprise his mother and sister and they, not recognizing him, rob and kill him. When they realize what they have done, they commit suicide. Meursault is not very surprised and merely says that the Czech man should not have tried to surprise his family. “Anyhow, to my mind, the man was asking for trouble; one shouldn’t play fool tricks of that sort.” He does not attempt to find meaning in the story or the actions of any of the players involved.
“His mother and sister completely failed to recognize him,” in the article. Compare this to the opening of the book where Meursault does not know what day his own mother died. There is a parallel absurdity. When Meursault thinks that “In one way it sounded most unlikely,” it is closer to the reaction many people would have. The story is so horrible that it could not have happened! However, Meursault also feels that seen in “another [way], it was plausible enough.” It was or it was not plausible. His mother died that day or perhaps the day before. None of it matters.
During his first few days in prison, Meursault finds a scrap of newspaper in his cell. On it is written a story about a Czech man who left his homeland to find his fortune. Years later, now wealthy and successful, he returns home to give his family a big surprise. Unfortunately, before he can do so, he is robbed and murdered by his mother and sister, who don't realize his true identity. When they discover the terrible truth they both commit suicide.
Meursault reads the story many times. The overriding lesson he learns from it is that one shouldn't play tricks like the wealthy Czech; one shouldn't adopt a false identity. One must always be true to oneself, come what may. This is one of the main themes of existentialism as espoused by Camus. Each individual must choose their own identities and live by them in an absurd universe, godless and meaningless in equal measure. This attitude of complete authenticity calls for constant decision as to how we relate to the world.
Meursault, in his utter amorality, has nonetheless consistently chosen for himself how to live his life, irrespective of the deadly consequences that follow. The Czech man in the story, though, chose to put on a disguise, however well-meaning, in acting out a conventional little game. The end in both cases will be the same: death. But what matters for Meursault, as a true existentialist, is the choosing of a life project and one's total, unswerving commitment to it.
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