People often question the meaning of life, whether it be based upon religion or if life itself contains any meaning at all. The views of the famous novelist Albert Camus contributed to the philosophy known as absurdism. Absurdism is the key component in the story, The Stranger, and is the belief that human existence is purposeless and that is evident by the way the protagonist behaves throughout the novel. A significant event from the novel would be when the magistrate in the story brings out his crucifix and revealed it to the protagonist, Meursault. The crucifix represented the afterlife, society’s acceptance of it, and the main characters search for a higher order. The representation of the crucifix is meant to disprove the notion of Absurdism, and prove that life does in fact hold …show more content…
Albert Camus’s absurd novel, The Stranger, considers human existence to have no rational meaning as the protagonist in the novel behaves cold-heartedly and detached toward the world he lives in. There are two significant themes that exist throughout the novel, passivity and religion. The theme passivity is portrayed when the main character Meursault received a telegram that his mother had passed away at her nursing home, and his thoughts when he saw this telegram were, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (Camus and Ward 1). Meursault’s treated his mother’s death with a casual demeanor almost seeming uninterested. Another example of the theme passivity being portrayed throughout the novel was when a lady in church was explaining to Meursault the effects of working outside. She had explained to Meursault that, “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church” (Camus and Ward 78).