THE STRANGER #3

“Everybody is here; everybody exists, but there is no reason as to why.”

Well, this is a quote that can pretty much summarize the entire novel. It is exactly what Meursault lives by, and how he goes through his day-by-day life. But since I wanted to write something rather interesting and different for this prompt, and not actually summarize Meursault‘s life, I figured to use this quote either way. You see the fascinating thing about this quote, and the reason why I actually wanted to write about it, is because despite everything that happened to Meursault during the end of the novel, he has been in absolute denial to turn to god, unlike most of humanity would when it comes to the proximity of the end of one’s life on earth.

Since we all know the existentialist way that Meursault’s brain functions there is no need for me to repeat it. But what is really strange about the last few chapters of The Stranger, and what I have come to realize after a few moments of thinking about it, is that the way this quote acts upon Meursault during the last few chapters of the novel is absolutely controversial. You see, when Meursault had nothing to worry about in his life except for the heat of summer and the thought of having to go back to work on Monday, he would live by that quote, and proving himself repeatedly with comments like “Maman was buried… and really, nothing had changed” (pg.24). But after the Arab’s murder, and the proposal of the prosecutor to penalize Meursault with death, everything pretty much turned around for him. He realized that there were things he actually enjoyed to a point of love, as much as things that he hated with his gut and couldn’t resist them. And as he realized that he did have something to care for, he actually hung on to the quote even more. Because he somehow felt that if he actually cared about something, if he tried to hold on to something more than his thoughts, he would become merely another lost soul that dies and has really so much to lose and no choice in surviving what every living thing goes through, death.

In fact, coming to analyze this reaction even further, I believe that this is a very natural but rare way of reacting towards death. Every person, animal, plant, or other living thing in existence knows that there is going to be a point in their life, when they are going to die, and in fact never come back.  So most people rationalize and decide to life to the fullest, be the best they can be and make sure there is nothing they regret doing or not doing when they are in their death bed. And when it comes to that, they hold on to the one invisible thing they know or at least trust to know is real, God. But in the rare case of an existentialist, they do exactly the opposite. Meursault proves that he does not need anything, because there is no point in holding on to something, get attached to anything, if in the long run, nothing really matters. In the long run, nobody really matters, or has a reason to exist, so why get caught up in things a silly as material objects, and other people? Meursault’s answer is simple. There just isn’t, and nobody really matters.