Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Stranger

In the face of adversity, what causes some to fail while others triumph?

In many respects, this is similar to my post on Crime and Punishment and, therefore, will be much shorter since much of the subject matter (concerning the Law of Human Nature) is already covered. The only difference is in the context of the violation of this Law. In The Stranger, we encounter an emotionally distant, even disconnected, man named Meursault. I believe that, for all intents and purposes, it cannot be said that he either triumphs or fails in relation to the context I put his actions in (namely, there is a universal moral law that he, for some reason, is unaware of). How can a man truly triumph when there is nothing to really triumph over? I suppose that Meursault triumphs in the end by finding a sort of peace and calm in his perceived absurdity of the world, but apart from that Meursault is really just apathetic about most of what happens. He is, for all intents and purposes, a "hollow man." What triumph or defeat can be found in something without meaning? The absurd provides no wins or losses, that would be absurd to think of if the world truly were absurd.

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