Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Meursault as Metaphysical

Meursault as Metaphysical Rebel in The Stranger (The Outsider) The Stranger by Albert Camus was published in 1942. The setting of the saucy is Algiers where Camus spent his youth in poverty. In many ways the main(prenominal) character, Meursault, is a typical Algerian youth. Like them, and like Camus himself, Meursault was in have it away with the sun and the sea. His look is devoted to appreciating physical sensations. He seems so detached of emotion. Something in Meursaults character has appealed primarily to readers since the books publication. Is he an absurd anti-hero? Is he a moral monster? Is he a rebel against a stuffy morality? Critics and readers alike have disputed a variety of approaches to Meursault. I believe he is the embryo of Camus metaphysical rebel as render in the philosophical essay, The Rebel. He is the man who says by his actions, I bequeath go this far, but no farther.In order to understand Meursaults ascent we must first understand the nature of hi s personality as visualised by Camus. The novel begins with the laconic assertion Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday I cant be sure. His mothers death briefly interrupts the pleasant flow of Meursaults life, a life devoted to appreciating sensation. He loves the feel of a crisp towel in the washroom. He enjoys eating, drinking, and smoking cigarettes. He loves to watch the sea and the sky. Swimming and making love to pretty girls like Marie are his favorite pastimes, so untold so that an offer of a job promotion in capital of France does not in the least appeal to him. When something bores him or distresses him he apparently goes to sleep, as he does on the bus to his mothers funeral and even in jail. He is a detached observer of life. Symbolic of this quality... ... noble act. Even we strength be able to do that. BIBLIOGRAPHYBree, Germaine. Camus. New York Harcourt Brace, 1964.Camus, Albert. The Rebel. New York Vintage Books, 1954Champigny, Robert. A Pagan Hero. Philad elphia University of Pennsylvania Press, 1969.Cruickshank, John. Albert Camus and the Literature of Revolt. New York Oxford University Press, 1960.King. Adele. Camus. New York Capricorn Books, 1971.Lottman, Herbert R. Albert Camus A Biography. New York George Braziller Inc. 1980.Masters, Brian. Camus A Study. London Heinemann, 1974.McCarthy, Patrick. Camus A Critical Study of his flavor and Works. London Hamish Hamilton, 1982.OBrien, Conor Cruise. Albert Camus of Europe and Asia. New York Viking Press, 1970.Quillot, Roger. The Sea and Prisons. University of Alabama University of Alabama Press, 1970