Heat In Albert Camus's The Outsider

The use of heat to portray existentialism is one of the crucial devices that amplify the tension in Albert Camus’ ‘The Outsider.’ The main character, Mersault, is an existentialist man who struggles to be accepted and understood by his peers every day, while not even fully realizing that struggle. He is the perfect representation of an existentialist, which is shown through the actions and thoughts he expresses. He is existentialist in the sense that he is a sensuous man, always completely immersed in what is happening at that very exact moment. He does not see the point in doing anything that will not contribute to his happiness, which is greatly dependent on his primary senses. What mostly affects Mersault’s senses and his existentialist

Throughout part one, the author makes the reader consider Mersault as an emotionless equivocal man, which is then negated by the reader himself in part two. In the second part the perspective suddenly shifts, as Mersault is not being seen by the world as in part one, but rather by one another human being. Consequently, the reader starts sympathizing with the injustice done to Mersault. Together with this shift, the use of heat to portray Mersault 's existentialism is also changed. While heat is already being portrayed as the enemy in Mersault’s life, it is not much more than a connection of unpleasant events in Mersault’s life, unhappiness and bad decision making. It does not directly hurt him. Albeit, this changes in part two, where the heat truly becomes his enemy fully and completely, by clouding Mersault’s judgement while his life is hanging by a thread in the court: “I wiped the sweat from my face and only vaguely remembered where I was and what I was doing there when I heard them call the warden of the home.” (Camus 86) The image of the heat and the warden is connected to the heat Mersault felt at his mother’s funeral, displaying once again its negative effect on his life, now its role of being an even bigger enemy purely consequential. Notwithstanding, Mersault exhibits that he is aware of the considerable effect heat has on him in while in court, his existentialist nature truly coming to light: “Mixing up my words a bit and realizing that I sounded ridiculous, I said quickly that it was because of the sun.” (Camus 99) Camus’ manipulation of the extended metaphor of the heat emphasizes not only Mersault’s existentialist nature, but also his treatment by society, portraying it as much of an enemy as the