ipl-logo

Diction In The Stranger

932 Words4 Pages

What if life contributed to no meaning and the only point which matters is the existence happening during the present? To make things worse, as humans live, they breath, but as they die a salvation is received to their soul, and their existence is over. The Stranger by Albert Camus illustrates that the human soul exists in the world physically, therefore the presence or absence does not contribute to any particular event in life. Through, this thought the novel introduces Meursault, who alienates himself from society. He lacks concern for social conventions and is deprived of the physical bounding from people around him. Through the use of diction and symbolism; Camus reveals Meursault’s is apathetic towards his bonding with others and unable …show more content…

Through the use of diction, Meursault perceives life is meaningless, which leads him to have the absence of strong bonding with acquaintance around him. He indicates that he lacks empathy from personal and social level. Meursault is a simple man who lives his life in a stickler type and changes annoy him. As the novel introduces Meursault mother being dead, he shows lack of concern and a burden to visit his mother for the last time. “Maman died today...I don’t know … everything will have a more official feel” (Camus 3). The use of diction shows Meursault's dispassionate to visit his mother. Through the use of words, Meursault is prevailed as emotionless and complicated to understand as he does not mourn for his mother, but is calm and lifeless. Also, through the work of diction, it reveals that Meursault has an affection towards Marie, but does not have a habit of comforting his feelings for her, but goes with what occurs in present.But the relationship he has with Marie shows that he cannot give women a healthy relationship. Meursault is used to sleeping around with her that he does not value love she provides for him. “A minute later she asked me if I love her… I didn’t think so”(35). He is honest, but is much direct about it, but he cannot love …show more content…

As Meursault perceives life contains no meaning, he is a hollow man who can not see the reality of life. He is much ignorant and lives in the present. “whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhumane and oppressive”(Camus 15).The sun represents the intimidating power of the natural worlds over human action. The sun is not repeated once, but many times during the funeral, which distracts Meursault’s attention and prevails the emotions, Meursault is unable to deal with himself. The sun is also the driving force, which makes Meursault murder the Arab man at the beach.“Scorching blade slash at my eyelash and stabbed at my stinging eyes...sky split open... the door of unhappiness”(59). When Meursault attended his mother’s funeral, he was annoyed by the heat, but he felt that the sun is oppressive. When Meursault has a gun and shoots at the body when the sun is hitting his eyes, it shows the impair vision he has, and he is unable to acknowledge reality. From the sun Meursault is unable to concentrate, which gradually makes him miserable.He is unable to make ration and irrational decisions when using the gun and he is unable to think clearly. All of his action when the sun is on him reflects his ignorant to recognize himself and a driving force to commit crimes. Meursault’s actions are not done by him thinking, but more when the sun reflects makes Meursault more motivated to take action. The reason

Show More
Related

  • Meursault's Downfall Essay

    1193 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the novel, at a point in time he kills a man without any concrete motive to do so, and this leads to him being sentenced to death. The sun is a very powerful symbol in the work, it is omnipresent. At the funeral, at the beach when he is with Marie, at the time he kills the Arab, the sun is always there. It may be argued that the symbolism of the sun leads to Meursault's downfall. In this Written Assignment I will discuss the fatal flaws of Meursault, the symbolism of the sun and how this affects the

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Analytical Essay

    586 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is the moment where Meursault truly feels alone and isolated from the world, but he hangs on to his memories of his girlfriend Marie. In this seclusion, Meursault learns that humans exist in a meaningless world that is only worth living due to the idea of love. He learns that he loves the possessions that he can not have such as cigarettes and swimming. It is through this loss that Meursault learns that love is what saves us from the world and that morality makes this idea more possible. (Mikics et al).

    Read More

  • Who Is Meursault's Indifference?

    779 Words  | 4 Pages

    The sun is present at his mother’s funeral, when he refuses to grieve. It is also at he beach, and it is the sun in his eyes that causes him to shoot the Arab. Meursault is cooperative and reacts passively to situations around him. Raymond is almost the exact opposite; he is very opinionated, active and assertive. One of the first encounters between the two characters is when Raymond invites Meursault to eat with him and when Raymond invites Meursault to the house on the beach.

    Read More

  • Meursault's Emotions In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    Camus uses the motif of weather, most commonly sun and heat, to express Meursault’s emotions. Meursault often describes the weather and how it ‘affects’ him. This can symbolize his actual feelings he tries to hide. An example can be found when Meursault is walking to his mother’s funeral. On the outside he is calm and even seems a little annoyed.

    Read More

  • What Does Meursault Mean To Be Human

    606 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall he leads an indifferent life which results in poor and meaningless relationships with people such as his mother, girlfriend, and neighbours. Meursault lacks emotion and compassion, because of this he doesn’t react to anything negative in his life and remains

    Read More

  • How Does Meursault View Religion

    301 Words  | 2 Pages

    Meursault views the world through a lens of detachment and indifference. In his eyes, it is not important to do things in such a way that it may benefit the greater good. As with all Nihilists, he does not see any real basis to life. Meursault takes no interest in the aspects of life that gives others meaning such as love, religion, or a career. He does not mourn for his mother, only briefly considers Marie, and has no real affection for any of his "friends" until the end.

    Read More

  • Social Norms In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

    1196 Words  | 5 Pages

    (59) After long passages describing the painful violence of the sun, Camus’s transition into the murder is shockingly abrupt, provoking a sense of bewilderment at the unexpected randomness of the murder, conveying effectively the irrationality of Meursault’s murder of the man. However, during the trial, when Meursault reveals that he murdered the Arab only because of the sun, refusing to allow others impose their logical but false interpretations upon his life, “people laughed” (103) and even his own “lawyer threw up his hand” (103) as they are unable comprehend and accept such an irrational motivation. To protect themselves from this harsh reality of the universe, they can only fabricate and impose their own logical explanation for Meursault’s behavior. The prosecutor, for instance, is convinced Meursault murdered the man in cold blood, certain in the narrative he has constructed out of events completely unrelated to the murder, from Meursault’s “ignorance when asked Maman’s age” (99) to his association with a man of “doubtful morality” (99). In both cases, Meursault’s indifference for societal standards of morality has painted him as a man immoral and cold-hearted enough to premeditate the murder.

    Read More

  • Flora Meursault's Existentialism In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

    900 Words  | 4 Pages

    Meursault does not see meaning in love or marriage while Marie is somewhat romantic. Marie does not need an epic love story, but she is desperate to get married. When Meursault and Marie get together the couple display an interesting dynamic. Meursault is brutally honest with Marie on his ideas about love and his feelings for her. Marie wants the relationship to move fast towards marriage so she constantly asks Meursault questions to see how he feels about her: "A moment later she asked me if I loved her.

    Read More

  • Meursault's 'Beyond The Populace In The Stranger'

    2432 Words  | 10 Pages

    In society, the belief in God is prominent; however, in Meursault 's eyes, nothing is meaningful in life and the only factuality in existence is death. Another external conflict is that Meursault comes to the realization that death is inevitable rather than being regretful of the murder (he does not realize his wrong-doings). “Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I 'd lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Meursault In The Stranger

    1190 Words  | 5 Pages

    In similar fashion, we see Meursault 's friend, Raymond, getting himself into trouble with his mistress for abusing her. After hearing about this, a police officer comes to stop the conflict and slaps Raymond across the face for not cooperating. Eventually, the mistress’s brother, who Meursault refers to as “the Arab” comes to get revenge on Raymond for beating up his sister by slashing Raymond 's arm and mouth with a knife. After getting wrapped up and with bandages, they go back to the beach where the Arab last was, but this time Meursault gets into the fight and shoots the Arab five times until he was motionless. Meursault 's explanation to this was that, “My eyes were blinded behind the curtain of tears and salt...my whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver.

    Read More

  • Meursault's Death

    286 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the novel, the reader gets a tone of emptiness from Meursault’s reaction to the death of his mother. People would offer him condolence, but his way of interacting with others made Meursault seem a bad guy and unusual. When he explained to his boss the reason of taking two days off, Meursault even said, “It’s not my fault.” (Camus 3). Meursault stating that shows the significance of the death of his mother to him.

    Read More

  • The Stranger Albert Camus Analysis

    761 Words  | 4 Pages

    “As Meursault pulled the trigger, he could feel the heat from his cheek from the sandy bright beach.” In The Stranger, the author Albert Camus uses different methods of mood and atmosphere in the novel which heightened the understanding of the novel and contributed to the descriptive patterns of the book. From the heat symbolism that creates a certain atmosphere in the book, to the specific mood he portrays in the novel. This all goes into the pattern that Camus blatantly put in the book to show a specific mood and to add an atmosphere to the novel. To start off, when Meursault states in the book that he feels a certain way for example heat or temperature it gives way to the descriptive patterns and symbolism, for example, to quote from the novel itself, Meursault says...

    Read More

  • The Stranger Meursault Character Traits

    842 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sun sets the stage got the climax of Meursault’s murder of the Arab. Sun is depicted as a distraction to Meursault and causes him to do things he would not normally do, causing him to commit a serious crime which will cause him death penalty. Another significant symbol in The Stranger is ‘outsider’. Meursault is a person who does not belong to the society. Meursault is a character who is detached and unemotional as he is insensitive of everything as an

    Read More

  • The Stranger Symbolism

    1273 Words  | 6 Pages

    My reflection seemed to remain serious even though I was trying to smile at it, and for the first time in months, I distinctly heard the sound of my own voice”(81). Through his words the author makes him feel as which he feels a sense of stuck in his own world and wants to find peace but the destination is just too far away. Meursault is born into this state of mind that he has no conception of what life is, what he wants out of life, no real longing for relationship, or just life in general. This aspect of his personality is what makes him the stranger that people don’t understand and have no ways to understand the idea behind the ways at which his mind

    Read More

  • Meursault's View Of Death

    779 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a fit of irrationality, he non nonchalantly murders the Arab in cold blood. After the first shoot, he passively states,” "the trigger gave[…]" (59). With a lack of empathy for the injured Arab, he continues to shoot the body four additional times. In the aftermath of the slaying, the narrator does not focus on the immediate consequences of the murder; rather, once more detailing the oppressive heat, a source of the murder. Because of the heat and the light reflected off of the Arab’s knife, Meursault absurdly thought to shot the Arab.

    Read More

More about Diction In The Stranger

Open Document