The Stranger, along with The Myth of Sisyphus (1955; Le Mythe de Sisyphe, 1942), represents Camus's deep exploration of the absurd. Camus described it as an “exercise in objectivity, the impersonal working out of the logical results of the philosophy of the absurd.” In Camus's philosophy from this era, life is fundamentally without meaning, and there is no prospect of it ever acquiring any. Without the notion of eternity, everything must be achieved in this lifetime. This understanding brings Meursault a sense of contentment at the end of his trial. Detached and unresponsive to life's influences, Meursault symbolizes a purposeless existence, a concept that resonated with a world engulfed in war, especially the French, who were experiencing a humiliating occupation.