L'Etranger / 'The Outsider' by
Albert Camus (1942)
By Brendan Thomas
This early existentialist novel by Albert
Camus was
written during Germany's occupation of France. Camus
began writing books after an influential career as a
journalist in Algeria and later as a leading writer
for the resistance. His sudden death in 1960 cut short
the Nobel Prize winning career of one of the most
important French writers of all time.
L'Etranger is set in Algeria in the 1940s. It is told
through Camus' impossible existential 'hero'
Meursault. The story begins as our young hero
Meursault learns of his mother's death - and is
unmoved. At the funeral he does not cry. To him the
whole religious rigmarole is ridiculous. Religion is
another part of society that impinges on his
individuality. He finds a lot of things in society
ridiculous and sees no need to conform. But still, he
has feelings of guilt and feels he is being judged.
Meursault drifts through life with no ambition and no
direction - declining a promotion because he sees no
reason to change his life. He generally sticks to the
'law of minimum effort', spending whole Sundays just
sitting on his veranda, smoking and watching people go
by - doing nothing. After all, it would be futile to
do anything else.
Meaursault lets things happen to him - with little
sense of self-preservation - and ends up getting
involved in a pimp's plan to get his revenge on one of
his prostitutes. In general, disagreeing with people
is too much effort for Meursault, so he ends up going
along with them. And this leads to his downfall.
Meursault ends up killing an Arab. The shooting is not
pre-meditated and hence should not carry the death
penalty but Meursault does not make a point of this in
his defence during his murder trial. In fact all he
says in his defence is: "It was because of the sun."
He exercises his freedom of choice and chooses not to
defend himself. Turning down various life-lines, he
chooses to lose his liberty. A religious magistrate
tries to 'save' Meursault but he would rather lose his
liberty than his integrity.
In this way, Meursault can seem too honest. When he
arrives in a Prison full of Arabs they ask him what
he's in for. He tells them: "For killing an Arab". His
girlfriend, Marie, wants to marry him and he says: "I
don't mind". He also talks honestly about his feelings
about other women to Marie. But his honesty is
selective. He stands up to society and refuses to lie
and act remorseful to save his own life. On the other
hand he lies to keep people happy, for example
agreeing with people just to end a conversation.
One of the strengths of the book lies in Camus'
beautiful descriptive - and sensational - writing:
"She had a very pretty dress with red and white
stripes, and leather sandals, and I couldn't take my
eyes off her. One could see the outline of her firm
little breasts, and her sun-tanned face was like a
velvety brown flower. We took the bus and went to a
beach I know, some miles out of Algiers. It's just a
strip of sand between two rocky spurs with a line of
rushes at the back along the tide-line. At four
o'clock the sun wasn't too hot, but the water was
pleasantly tepid, and small, languid ripples were
creeping up the sand. .(The sea spray) made a sort of
frothy haze that melted into the air or fell back in a
warm shower on one's cheeks.Her tongue cooled my
lips.it was pleasant to feel the cool night air
flowing over our sunburnt bodies"
(Translated by Stuart Gilbert)
Meursault describes without prejudice. He reports what
he sees and remains impartial, at least to the reader.
Camus leaves a blank canvas for the reader to paint in
Meursault's character - perhaps with his/her own. This
lack of prejudice extends to himself and to others: he
does not like being judged and does not judge others.
He believes people are individuals and all lives and
ways of living are equally valid: 'One life (is) as
good as another.' For example, he has no problem in
becoming friends with a pimp (Raymond), nor a
simpleton (Emmanuel). This neutrality and innocence
works against him at his trial.
As discussed, Meursault is selectively honest but -
true to existentialism - has integrity. Existentialism
sees hypocrisy as a 'sin'. Hence Meursault does not
play the hypocritical game of life, like the rest of
society.
"Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be
sure."
This is the opening line of the book and it is both
succinct and significant. It contains the main themes
of the story. Camus was fascinated by life and death.
(His tuberculosis in 1930 nearly killed him, and ended
his academic career - similar to his character
Meursault.) The lack of concern here with the time of
the death, and the death itself, is an early indicator
of Meursault's general neutrality and frankness. He
does not try and pretend to himself he is upset about
his mother's death, nor us (the reader), nor society
around him. Society sees his honest lack of contrition
as more despicable than the act of murder itself.
The opening line also indicates that 'time of death'
is of significance to society. In this Camus is
pointing to another important existentialist concept,
and another theme in the story: absurdity.
Much of the story is rooted in French national
feelings following their collaboration in WWII. It is
as if Camus is rationalising the French collaboration
in this character Meursault. He is not a coward but he
goes along with evil doings because it is the simplest
way.
In L'Etranger, Camus has succeeded in creating a
beautiful and moving piece of writing. It is an
important addition to the momentous existentialist
movement.
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