Theme Of Existentialism In 'The Outsider'

Existentialism portrayed in “The Outsider” “The Outsider” by Albert Camus is often considered an introduction to the philosophical school of existentialism, even winning its author a Nobel Prize. In spite of this, Albert Camus is someone who refused to be identified with the existentialist movement, responding in an interview: “No, I am not an existentialist.” Camus claimed that his works focused more on the absurd rather than existentialist ideas. Nonetheless, the main character of the novel, Meursault, is in many ways an embodiment of existentialism, a projector of the philosophy’s ideologies in his thoughts and actions. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes on individual existence, freedom and choices. The main belief is that there is ultimately no meaning at the very core of

This could be interpreted that there is only two states: “existing” and “not existing”; death is the end of existence and after that there is nothing. Existence is a fragile entity that is determined by the individual, formed by the memories that an individual had throughout his life. With death, all of these experiences, be it that they once brought love, hate, joy or sorrow, will cease to exist and simply disappear. Existence is defined by the individual himself and thus, existentialists refuse to belong to any schools of thought or categorization. This includes personally deciding for oneself the issue of morality and conscience and taking responsibility for one’s actions. To start off, existentialist ideas were present in Meursault’s attitude towards his life and his focus on living in the present. The novel was written in a first person narrative, enabling us to peer inside Meursault’s