The Outsider: Existentialism

There is an obvious debate if Camus is an existentialist and his The Stranger or The Outsider promotes existentialism, because Camus himself disclaimed the label of being an existentialist. Yet we will not be discouraged to evaluate existentialism in The Outsider: very few "existentialist" philosophers were willing to accept the label of "existentialist," starting with "The Father of Existentialism," Søren Kierkegaard.

There are two classes of existentialism: the atheistic or secular existentialism and Christian existentialism. Since Camus is an Atheist, he must fall into the category the atheistic existentialism which is seen as a revolt, rebellion, or dissatisfaction against the suffering in human’s life. Sartre, the pioneer of atheistic existentialism, states his famous proposition,

"existence precedes essence",(Quoted in Ahmed, 113)

This statement has deep implication to some basic themes of Atheistic Existentialism: Atheism, Freedom of Choice, Responsibility, and Anxiety and Death.

Nietzsche’s atheistic thinking occupies a central place among the Existentialist thinkers, though Nietzsche himself is not an Existentialist. Nietzsche asserts,

“God is dead” (wikipedia)

Camus also adopts and portrays the same idea through Meursault who refuses God even at the time of death

 “…[he] didn’t believe in God” (116).

Because he feels that no one can control his actions and there is no such thing as fate.

         

Atheistic existentialism sees that man has complete freedom of choice and can make himself anything he wishes. Through Mersault, the reader can see the picture of a self-conscious man who knows what he wants or does not want; who has his own consideration and values to determine his actions.

Since man enjoys freedom of his own choice, he is totally responsible for what he makes of himself. Mersault in The Outsider is the man with commitment and responsibility of what he had done or chosen. Even when facing death penalty, he refuses to lie, though he has choices either to tell a lie according to jury’s expectation or to speak his true feelings and thoughts. He decides not to lie since according to Sartre lying is self-deception and causes someone to loose his "essence".

However in the case of anxiety and death, Camus' thought differs somewhat from other existentialists like Sartre and Martin Heidegger. Camus believes that life is absurd or meaningless, so in making choices and facing death man has less anxiety than what Sartre believes. When Meursault is asked by the judge if he has anything to say after his trial Meursault does not even care and answers,

“I thought about it. I said, “’No.”’ That’s when they took me away” (107).

Meursault views the world in a very existential way. As his boss asks him if he would like a change in his life and move to Paris, Meursault thought that,

“…people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another…” (41).

To Meursault, human existence is not very significant nor one’s existence is better than another one’s.

Considering the human existence absurd and meaningless, existentialists often remain detached from life, whether it offers joys or tragedies. Camus holds that,

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness     consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." (Quoted in Webster's Quotations)

 Meursalt doesn’t interact with the world in a normal way. The death of his mother, for example, has little emotional effect on him:

“Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work and that, really, nothing had changed”.

He kills the Arab simply because he was drunk, confused, and blinded by the sunlight: he is incapable of explaining to others what his motivation was, and people are incapable of understanding it, either.

Moreover if we analyze the trial scene of the novel in later chapters, we understand that it is not a trial of Meursalt and his actions, but of existentialism against the older philosophy espoused by those in power – religion.

              To sum up, throughout The Outsider, it is very evident that existentialism is everywhere. Meursault truly is an existentialist, since he questions his own existence, questions the existence of God and believes worldly desires are futile. As Daniel S. Burt said there were many,

“…essential questions raised in The Stranger- how do we live our lives, what is the purpose of our existence…” (Burts).

These questions are all answered throughout the novel through Meursault‘s actions and thoughts.      

Works Cited:

Ahmed, Dr. Sheikh Mushtaq. Existential Aesthetics. Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distri, 1991. p.113

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead

Icon Group International. Happiness: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases. ICON Group International, Inc., 2008. p.13

Burt Daniels S. “The Stranger.” The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time. 2004. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. Parsippany High school Lib., NJ. 1 December 2009     <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?>