Lessons from The Stranger
Albert Camus’ legacy of absurdism
L’Etranger, written in 1942 by Albert Camus, centres around the title character of Mersault. L’Etranger can be translated into English as one of three words: the stranger, the outsider or the foreigner. Mersault can be said to have been all three- he was a stranger to himself, an outsider to society and a Frenchman living in Algeria. Perhaps this reflects how Camus himself felt, born to French parents in Algeria.
A short novel, it helped contribute to the themes of absurdism and existentialism in philosophy (although Camus distanced his work from the latter term). Mersault can be described as emotionally detached to his environment, living moment by moment. He does not feel society’s obligations and pressures, and is truly content speaking his mind without regard for the sensitivities of others.
Although this seems to paint a picture of a callous individual, he remains a compelling character throughout due to the honesty with which he presents his experiences. The book opens “My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” To the outside world he is viewed as uncaring, but this is an unfair assessment. He merely is not aware of when the telegram arrived which informed him of the news, and to him the exact day of his mother’s death is not important.
