Opposition to the Will of the Majority in the Stranger Novel

The Stranger: Absurdism and Opposition

Albert Camus’ The Stranger tells a narrative about a peculiar shipping clerk in French Algiers named Meursault. The novel meanders through different events of Meursault’s life and explains his personality, emphasizing his opposition to the will of the majority. The protagonist lives his life emotionally detached and shows no compassion or hatred towards others. This amoral approach to existence separates him from the rest of society. The novel begins with Meursault attending his mother’s funeral after she passed away in a nursing home. Showing little remorse, Meursault then frolics with his new girlfriend and manages to forget about this traumatizing experience. The story concluded with Meursault engaging in a verbal dispute with an Arab man and proceeding to shoot his body several times. Camus tells the fictional story of Meursault to explain a greater meaning and a philosophical approach to existence: absurdism and existentialism. These philosophical theories imply that a moral code of conduct has no rational basis and that life has no higher meaning as many expect it to do. Immediately, Meursault finds himself to interpret the meaning of his existence vastly different than others around him, isolating him from the rest of his community. In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault exemplifies his opposition to the will of the majority by actively opposing social customs and only acknowledging physical attributes in his daily occurrences, as he refuses to observe his mother in her funeral casket and is devoid of all emotions when interacting with his girlfriend or the Arab.

Meursault initially demonstrates his unintentional defiance of societal norms at his mother’s funeral and as a result, showing signs of disrespect towards her. In the beginning chapters, the caretaker offers and urges to remove Madame Meursault’s casket so Meursault may see his mother for the last time. This tradition holds great significance in this culture and is recognized as a moment of compassion, as the child is able to see his or her parent for the last time. However, Meursault blatantly rejects the caretaker’s offer and refuses to see his mother one final time. This act of disrespect baffles the caretaker and he attributes it to Meursault’s lack of disinterest in his mother. The caretaker also takes note that Meursault casually adds milk in his coffee and drinks it after refusing to see his mother. Once again, the violation of a simple social norm confuses the caretaker and adds to Meursault’s enigmatic personality. The tradition at the time was not to partake in coffee with milk and to stay away from that pleasure, yet Meursault readily disregards the convention. Although his demeanor at his mother’s funeral is unorthodox, Meursault expresses complete outrage towards religious traditions while in jail. After killing the Arab man and being sentenced to prison, Meursault is approached by a chaplain who attempts to pray for Meursault and cleanse him of his sins. Meursault, however, violently resists the chaplain’s assistance. He exclaims that there simply is no evidence for a life after this one. Meursault’s readiness to reject all norms and cultures forces him to be an outlier in society. Opposing norms and traditions constitutes the definition of an outsider and an individual who opposes the majority’s will. Furthermore, Meursault justifies both actions here through his philosophical beliefs. His nihilistic tendencies show the reader that he is incapable of forming legitimate emotional attachments and refuses to accept religion. This worldview is contradictory to what much of society believes, that good and purpose in the world can be created. However, by embracing nihilism and existentialism, understanding that this life is meaningless and that there is no higher meaning, Meursault finds a will to live. This leads Meursault to mindlessly decline all social and religious norms and exclude himself from society.

Meursault’s adamant rejection of societal traditions leads him to only acknowledging physical attributes in his daily occurrences. Camus first demonstrates this at Madame Meursault’s funeral. Meursault easily avoids any emotional attachment he had with his mother when at her funeral and only takes time to contemplate the heat of the sun. Meursault attempts to be pragmatics by only assessing the consequences that physically affect him. Furthermore, Meursault complains about his drowsiness and lack of sleep, explaining his interest to sleep on the bus on his way home from his mother’s funeral. Adopting such a strict and practical mindset sets him apart from the majority, as Meursault is incapable of forming emotional attachments or showing remorse. Marie, Meursault’s girlfriend, is also susceptible to his incapability. In the initial stages of the relationship, Meursault only acknowledges the sexual relations they have with one another. Furthermore, when Marie expresses that she loves Meursault and wants to marry him, Meursault does nothing but offer an indifferent response to both her emotional statements. His uninterested responses cause Marie to question her relationship with Meursault and whether or not he truly loves her. Finally, in the last few scenes as Meursault kills the Arab man, Meursault is unable to explain why he killed the Arab man, but vividly recounts the weather and the sun’s intense heat. Meursault’s inclination to only record the physical feature of each experience causes him to lose sight of the other pleasures in life. His abnormal perception of the world causes him to become an outlier from society. When Meursault is mentally incapable of forming emotional bonds with others, people in society are disgusted because forming emotional relationships and looking past material pleasures constitutes a true eudemonic lifestyle.

In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault demonstrates his opposition to the will of the majority by actively opposing societal and religious traditions and only acknowledging physical goods in his daily occurrences, as he refuses to observe his mother in her funeral casket and is devoid of all emotions when interacting with his girlfriend or killing the Arab man. Camus’ narrative tells a larger story in which embracing the idea that life has no real purpose, the philosophy that both he and Meursault adopt, causes him to be isolated from society. Camus was a staunch follower of absurdism, a school of thought which emphasizes on the conflict between seeking inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. Because finding intrinsic worth in human life is a human tendency, straying from any code of conduct or good causes one to be isolated by others and an absurdist. Meursault demonstrates himself to be an absurdist by rejecting the social and cultural norms present at his time and refusing to acknowledge the emotional connection he has with individuals. Camus portrays Meursault himself to be an absurdist and an individual who acts contrary to the will or ideals of the majority at the time.