Theme of Absurdism in 'The Stranger' By Albert Camus.

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ABSTRACT

Absurdisme adalah suatu istilah tentang tidak ditemukannya makna atau

arti dalam hidup. Istilah ini kemudian dikembangkan oleh Albert Camus, seorang

sastrawan Prancis. Kemenangan Jerman dalam Perang Dunia II, memicu Albert

Camus menjadi atheis dengan mencetuskan paham Absurditas. Hal ini yang

melatarbelakangi Camus dalam karyanya yang berwarna atheis. Tokoh dalam

karyanya adalah seseorang yang dapat menentukan pilihannya sendiri,

menanggung resiko dan bertanggung jawab atas pilihannya.

Dalam novel The Stranger ini, tokoh yang bernama Meursault mempunyai

kehidupan yang layak. Dia sering mengeluhkan hidupnya tidak berguna dan

membosankan dan bukannya bersyukur kepada Tuhan. Segala sesuatu yang

terjadi padanya dianggap tidak berarti. Suatu saat dia menembak seseorang

sampai mati, sehingga dia dikirim ke penjara dan divonis hukuman mati, bukan

karena telah membunuh seseorang tetapi karena tindakannya yang tidak

mencerminkan sikap seorang anak terhadap sang ibu pada umumnya. Di akhir

cerita, dia menyadari bahwa kematiannya sangat berarti karena dia merasa

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF THE STRANGER

In the beginning of the story Meursault is trying to recall his mother’s

death. He can only vaguely remember anything about his mother. He and his

mother previously have a distant emotional state and nothing changes after her

death. He remembers once he visits his mother, speaks to the undertaker, smokes

a cigarette and meets Monsieur Perez, who helps to carry his mother’s coffin to its

burial plot.

The day after the funeral, Meursault takes a bus to the public beach and

meets up with Marie Cardona, a beautiful young secretary from his company.

After spending the day splashing around in the ocean and going to a movie, Marie

returns to Meursault's apartment where they make love. Marie asks Meursault if

he loves her. Meursault likes her and he will marry her if he wants, but he sees

nothing special about her or any woman in general.

Meursault returns to work and his boring life. He passes some time with

co-worker and friend, Emmanuel. He speaks with his downstairs neighbor,

Salamano, who lives alone with his spaniel dog. Another neighbor, with whom

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24 Maranatha Christian University beats his ex-girlfriend who is an Arab and who he believes to have cheated on

him. Raymond and Meursault discuss their lack of emotions and past relationships

with one another, understanding the apathetic, cold, and indifferent personalities

that they share.

One day, Raymond brings Meursault and Marie to the beach to visit his

friend, Masson. They see a group of Arabs following them. Near a stream at the

edge of the beach, the Arabs fight the three men, and run off. After the three men

return to Masson's cottage, Meursault returns to the beach with Raymond's gun.

He comes across the same Arab and, before much provocation, shoots him once.

After he falls, Meursault shoots him four more times.

Meursault is arrested and put in jail to await trial. He speaks with a

magistrate, several policemen, and his defense attorney. The prosecuting attorney

describes Meursault's indifference towards his mother's death as monstrous and

apathetic. The judges, jury and audience members are convinced when Marie

explains that they begin their relationship immediately after the funeral

proceedings.

Meursault is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to public

execution by guillotine. The prison chaplain urge him to find God and salvation.

Meursault still does not believe in God and finds the man frustrating and

annoying. When the day of his execution arrives, Meursault understands Maman's

actions and feelings prior to her death. He thinks that maybe he could live another

life. Nevertheless, he is excited about the day. He walks out to the guillotine

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25 Maranatha Christian University BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria in 1913. His father died one year later, and Camus' mother raised him alone. His mother was impoverished and

nearly deaf, so the two of them moved to Camus' grandmother's apartment in the

Belcourt section of Algiers, near the Arab Quarter of the city. Camus occupied

himself with school and sports, proving to be an excellent student and an

admirable competitor. He was tutored by an instructor named Louis Germain at

the local school, and in 1923 he passed the lycée entrance exams. He was

accepted to the school of philosophy at the University of Algiers, but had to take

leave due to a bout with tuberculosis. He recommenced his education in 1930, and

working for the Meteorological Institute, selling spare car parts, and private

tutoring. He received his diplôme d'études supérieures in 1936. In 1937 he

published his first book, a collection of essays entitled L'Envers et L'endroit.

From 1934 to their divorce in 1936, Camus maintained a short marriage to

Simone Hié, the daughter of a wealthy ophthalmologist. Camus joined the

Communist Party in 1934. From 1935-39 Camus, founded the Théâtre de

l'Equipe, or the Workers' Theatre. This group wrote a collective play called

Révolte dans les Asturies. In 1938, Camus became a journalist for an

anti-colonialist newspaper called the Alger-Republicain. Camus left Algiers in 1940

for Paris. This same year the German army invaded France, so he returned to

North Africa. He found a teaching position in Oran, and was married for his

second time to Francine Faure, a mathematics instructor.

In 1943 Camus joined "Combat," a clandestine resistance cell and

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26 Maranatha Christian University sabotage. He became its editor in 1943, and held this position for four years.

During the occupation the paper was printed in Lyon, and it moved to Paris after

the Liberation in the summer of 1944. The first Paris edition editorial was written

by Camus.

During the war, Camus published a number of works which have become

associated with his doctrine of the absurd: his idea it is impossible to make

rational sense of one's experience, and human life is made meaningless by

mortality. The novel, The Stranger (1942; Eng. trans., 1946), has become the

quintessential work of fiction of the 20th century on the theme of the alienated

outsider. The Myth of Sysiphysus (1942; Eng. trans., 1955) is an essay dedicated

to the absurd. He also published two plays consistent with this theme: Cross

Purpose (1944, Eng. trans., 1948) and Caligula (1944, Eng. trans., 1948).

Although Camus is attracted to contemporary nihilism in these works, he became

increasingly more ambivalent in his philosophy towards absurdism. He was not

comfortable with the moral indifference necessarily implied by philosophical

absurdism. He exercised these thoughts in works like Letters to a German Friend

(1945), which is published with a number of other political essays, in Resistance,

Rebellion, and Death (1960).

In 1944 Camus' wife gave birth to twins, Catherine and Jean. In 1949

Camus had a relapse of his tuberculosis, and he locked himself in seclusion to

write. When he recovered in 1951 he published L'Homme Révolté (The Rebel).

He began to write for l'Express daily newspaper in 1955, covering the Algerian

war. He came back into favor with intellectual circles in 1956 with the publication

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27 Maranatha Christian University his essay Réflexions Sur la Guillotine as an influential work on behalf of human

rights.

Throughout his life, Camus continued to work for the theatre, taking on

the various roles of actor, director, playwright and translator. The themes of his

theatrical work primarily wrest with the human desire for understanding and its

conflict with the absurd nature of existence. State of Siege (1948; Eng. trans.,

1958) and The Just Assassins (1950; Eng. trans., 1958) are two of his distinctly

political plays. He also gained acclaim for his stage adaptations of novels such as

William Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun (1956) and Dostoyevsky's The Possessed

(1959).

On January 4, 1960, Camus died in a car accident near Sens, France, while

on his return to Paris with his friend and publisher Michel Gallimard. Found in his

papers was the novel The First Man, a fictionalized account of his family history,

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

I choose the first novel written by Albert Camus, The Stranger, because I

like how the author portrays the character with his unique personalities and

attitudes that are different from common people. Camus is particularly considered

the originator of absurdism, a philosophy related to Existentialism. Absurdism

contends that human beings are basically irrational and human suffering is the

result of vain attempts by individuals to find reason or meaning in the absurd

abyss of existence. “Camus claimed that the only true philosophical question was

that of suicide. That is, should we bother living at all or simply kill ourselves?

Camus argued that historically most people have either believed that life is

meaningless and concluded in favor of suicide, or has created some artificial

meaning like religion to fill their lives. Camus claims that there is a third option:

we can realize that life is meaningless and nevertheless keep living” (Bykova).

I choose The Stranger, which is one of his masterpiece (another one is The

Fall), because I am interested in how Camus explores the basic ideas of his theory

of absurdism; namely, that the world is essentially meaningless and the only way

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2 Maranatha Christian University is the individual and not the act that gives meaning to any given context. In this

book, he wants to explore what he termed “the nakedness of man faced with the

absurd” (Camus). Nakedness means something that is not hidden or made less

clear; plain to see and perhaps shocking. From his term, one can see people who

live in their own world without any way to find the meaning in life and reason in

the irrational and meaningless world.

I want to analyze the theme of this novel. Theme is “its controlling idea or

its central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by

the story. To derive the theme of the story, we must ask what its central purpose

is: what view of life it supports or what insight into life it reveals” (Perrine 105). I

choose theme in order to connect the meaning of the story and absurdism itself.

There are a lot of theories related to absurdism and how people try to live

in it. I find one of the theories which says that:

Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to

find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and, hence, are

absurd) because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to

humanity. Absurdism pertains that, although such meaning may exist,

the pursuit of it is not essential. It is distinguished from nihilism by its

subjective view of humanity, theology and meaning. It is best to think

of it as the ‘agnostic’ stage between existentialism and nihilism.

Søren Kierkegaard wrote extensively on absurdism in the mid 19th

century, but the philosophy is most associated with Albert Camus and

his novels The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus (Top 10 School of

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3 Maranatha Christian University The term of absurd means “unreasonable; nonsensical; ridiculous, preposterous;

silly, foolish” (Dictionary & Translations by Babylon).

Most of the people in this world still do not know about the purpose of life

and searching the truth of life which is still a mystery. Basically, people live in the

unreasonable world and by this reality. It forces them to find the purpose and

meaning in this life. The meaning of absurdism itself, “irrationality; philosophy

based on belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless” (Dictionary &

Translations by Babylon).

Camus also said that, “Absurd is the confrontation between the sense of

the irrational and the overwhelming desire for clarity which resounds in the depths

of man. The absurd is a pointless quest for meaning in a universe devoid of

meaning. It defines the beginning of the questioning of existence. Coming to

terms with the Absurd is Camus’s main concern” (Dance of the Mind). Camus

also quoted about finding happiness and meaning in this meaningless world: “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” (Top 10 Schools of

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4 Maranatha Christian University STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. What is the theme of absurdism of the novel?

2. How does the protagonist help reveal the theme of absurdism?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1. To know the theme of absurdism of the novel.

2. To show how the protagonist help reveal the theme of absurdism.

METHOD OF RESEARCH

The approach that I used is Philosophical Approach, focusing on

Absurdism. This theory explains about the absence of values in character’s life.

I read The Stranger, a novel by Albert Camus. I did library research and

also browsing many internet sites related to the book and the author. I quoted

some of the text and quotations to my thesis. Then I analyzed the novel and

conclude my analysis.

ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

This thesis divides into three chapters. The first chapter is Introduction,

which includes Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of

the Study, Method of Research, and The Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two

is the Analysis on The Stranger. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends

with lists of references in the Bibliography and Appendices, which contain

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I want to conclude that the protagonist as an example of

human being who is explicitly portrayed as a person who live among a big

question in this world. This statement appears with the contribution of the contrast

ideas of life which often happen in people’s thought. It also makes people to think

that life is irrational and meaningless. The absurd itself makes the atmosphere of

life which is still the mystery to human being and also includes the question about

the life after death. The absurd is not a synonym for "ridiculous," but the true state

of existence. Accepting the view that life is absurd is to embrace a "realistic" view

of life: the absence of universal logics. This concept of life is more radical, if

“Nietzsche declared “God is dead”, but Camus does not have to do this because

he presumes the absence of a universal logic of divinity” (Dance of the Mind).

Many people believe Camus see there is no meaning in life; even Camus and

Nietzsche seek "meaning" in life, but not in manners familiar to most. The

meaning is in the human experience. In brief, absurdity is rendered the

meaninglessness of life. People do not search the meaning because they believe

that there is no such meaning exist even they search it. This matter of life is

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18 Maranatha Christian University The protagonist, Meursault, is the archetype of a middle-class man. He

works as a clerk, rents an apartment, and draws no attention to himself. He lacks

deep convictions and passion. If he is estranged from any aspect of French

society, it is religion -- he does not believe in the symbols and rituals of faith. The

U.S. title, The Stranger, Meursault, is viewed as a "strange" or "odd" person for

some time. Meursault is a stranger even to those who think they know him. Along

with the title, the author takes care in naming the main character. Meursault's

name is symbolic of the Mediterranean. Mer means "sea" and Soliel is French for

"sun." The sea and sun meet at the beach, where Meursault's fateful act occurs.

Meursault’s attitude toward the death of Maman portrays a gap between

him and his mother. Generally, his relationship toward his mother seems not a

relationship between son and mother. Meursault’s relationship toward his mother

represents the author’s past life. In Camus’ history, he has less or no attention

from their parents. His father was dead in the war, one year after he was born. His

mother, a poor, deaf and sullen, cannot do anything to raise Camus and his

brother. So, his mother moves them to her grandma’s apartment. In this novel,

Meursault and his mother is portrayed as a reflection of Camus’ past life. As in

the novel, Meursault does not feel sad when losing his mother and Camus’ past

life also portrays the same way when he does not have any attention from his

mother.

Meursault courtship toward Marie Cardona is also marked as a

coincidence. Meursault meets her only for having sexual intercourses. The

relationship between man and woman in this era often sees no value on marriage.

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19 Maranatha Christian University intercourse is important as a part in the courtship. People often do sexual

intercourse as usual activity and it seems usual to do the intimate intercourse

without realizing any important thing of marriage. For some people, building a

family is only adding problems because there are lot things to do for it. There are

also a lot of people who only wants to have sex to fulfill their desire than to build

a family. It is simply that people do not want to responsible for the risk.

Meursault’s action in this novel also portrays the same perspective about sex.

After World Wars II and other sufferings, many people try to live life

much as Meursault does. They lost the will to do more than exist. There is no

hope and no desire. The only goal for many people is survival, but the survival

seems empty. In this respect, I see how empty Meursault's existence is through his

relationships. He is not close to his mother as he does not cry at her funeral. He

also does not seem close to his girlfriend, Marie Cardona.

In the middle of the novel is the death of a Middle-Easterner. This event in

the novel is set in motion by Meursault's apparent murder of the

Middle-Easterner. The Middle-Easterners are traditionally the targets of racism in Algiers.

The "more French" one is, the more important the individual. The culture and

religion of Middle-Easterners is deemed simple and barbaric. This explains why it

is more upsetting to the court that Meursault is not respectful of their societal

norms... killing a Easterner is a minor offense. Killing an armed

Middle-Easterner is an act of superiority. It simply explains that he killing is only to

transfer one’s life to another life or without witnesses, Meursault can create any

tale he wishes and be found innocent of murder. Instead, he accepts what he has

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20 Maranatha Christian University Meursault experiences what the existentialist thought about choices,

consequences, and responsibility. He is portrayed as a human being who can live

without the help of higher power. Once he lives, he is never afraid to face the

events in front of him. Meursault chooses not to believe in God. Believing in God

or not does not make any difference. Still, he will be executed. He is truthful to his

atheism and refuses to pretend he has found religion, for he knows he makes his

own destiny; and he, not God, is responsible for his actions and their

consequences. The perspective of one of life is different from each other.

Meursault as an honest atheist is willing to accept his life as it happens. He does

not want to hide anything and face the death with happiness.

The religion hesitation until rejection of God which is represented by

Meursault shows the appearance of higher power cannot help human being to live

life. The existence of God is considered absurd and cannot become a standard of

living by human being. A salvation in doing something is managed by people

themselves. Such Meursault’s salvation that is not be able to be represented as the

help of God. Meursault still be executed if he believes in God or not. Meursault is

saved or not from the execution is by his effort. Even he is responsible for killing

someone and is sentenced to death. He believes that life is in his own hands and

not God who manages his life. In this respect, he determines his own future life

and rejects all the help and salvation from higher power which is represented by

God.

Finally, the theme of absurdism: ‘one may find one’s life absurd for one

has no desire to appreciate the values of one’s life’ helps me to reveal about

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21 Maranatha Christian University full of boredom. If people choose to live in it, they would never find the meaning.

So, all the activities in this universe are marked as monotonous. It is better not to

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.

Internet/Websites

Babylon.com. 2007. Dictionary & Translations by Babylon. 22 Feb. 2008 <http://www.babylon.com/definition/Absurdism/>.

Babylon.com. 2007. Dictionary & Translation by Babylon. 11 June. 2008 <http://www.babylon.com/definition/absurd/English>.

Bykova, Dr. Marina. “PHI-310:Existentialism.” Camus (2003). 3 March 2008 <

http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/bykova/phi310/Camus.htm>.

Fee, Saas. “The European Graduate School.” Biography of Albert Camus (2008). 10 June 2008 <http://www.egs.edu/resources/camus.html>.

Frater, Jamie. “Top 10 Schools of Philosophy – The LIST Universe.” 2008. 21 Feb. 2008 < http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-schools-of-philosophy/>.

Mariowitz, David Zane. “Introducing Camus.” Rev. of Introducing Camus, David Zane Mariowitz. Dance of the Mind. 29 Dec. 2007. 19 Feb. 2008 < http://minddance.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/introducing-camus-by-daviz-zane-mairowitz/>.