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The Importance Of Existentialism In The Stranger By Albert Camus

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In The Stranger by Albert Camus’ which sets in 1940s French Algeria, shows the significance of the absent character Maman. Monsieur Meursault is an existentialist which he shows his lack of emotion and translation towards Maman and her death. Madame Meursault and her son have a meaningless sense of love in there relationship and no sense of family and life. Monsieur Meursault not only shows the lack of love and emotion though his Maman but though Marie, shooting the Arab, and being judged as a criminal through the trials. In the beginning of the book the setting is in Marengo where Maman lived and the funeral was. After the funeral Monsieur Meursault goes back to Algiers. That day he gets back he goes to the beach and he meets his friend and used to be lover Marie. Marie is attracted …show more content…

Raymond and Meursault run into trouble with the Arab which is Raymond ex-girlfriends brother. Meursault describes the day being “The sun was the same as it had been the day I’d buried Maman, and like then, my forehead especially hurting me, all the veins in it throbbing under the skin” (59). He brings his mother’s death and funeral up when talking about the sun. Meursault ends up shooting the Arab four times. “I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of the beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (59). Meursault has no remorse, he does not feel guilty for what he did. “I didn’t feel much remorse for what I’d done. That I had never been able to truly feel remorse for anything. My mind was always on what was coming next, today or tomorrow” (100). Meursault is a careless person he does not feel guilty for killing the Arab or being sad or guilty for Maman

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