Le' Estrange'

[ZeroG]

I read "The Stranger" by Albert Camus a while ago. It was brought to my attention by a young "goth" in a CD store. She said The Cure's "Killing an Arab" was based on the book. That got my curiosity peaked and I obtained the book from a Brit who was working for us at the time. He had it because it was required reading in High School in England.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/y7lULaE6kv4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/y7lULaE6kv4&rel=1</a>

It is a very depressing book to read. Many claim it to be the bible of the "Absurd" and coincident with existentialism commonly associated with Sartre.

To summarize, a man who lives a life like the central charactor of "1984", mother dies. Surprising to himself, he is not struck with grief and he looks at his whole life as absurd. He finds himself with a gun on a beach in Algeria. Arabs have always been rude in his mind, but somehow he is confronted by one and before he knows it, he has shot the Arab.

He is put in jail and put on trial for the crime. He shows no remorse, is not sorry, and just has no feelings for the victim, or his own life. A priest explains that he only needs to express the fact that he shouldn't have done it and he could save his own life. He opts out and faces the executioner.

It all puts the purpose of life in question. And with the choices chosen, it would seem the author says "there is no purpose". But, after reading more about Camus, I find that his book was a way of finding that purpose, and showing how most people miss it.

The purpose is other people!  Read this part of the Wikipedia entry...

Camus' ideas on the Absurd

In his essays Camus presented the reader with dualisms: Happiness and sadness, dark and light, life and death, etc. His aim was to emphasize the fact that happiness is fleeting and that the human condition is one of mortality. He did this not to be morbid, but to reflect a greater appreciation for life and happiness. In Le Mythe, this dualism towards became a paradox: We value our lives and existence so greatly, but at the same time we know we will eventually die, and ultimately our endeavours are meaningless. Whilst we can live with a dualism (I can accept periods of unhappiness, because I know I will also experience happiness to come), we cannot live with the paradox (I think my life is of great importance, but I also think it is meaningless). In Le Mythe, Camus was interested in how we experience the Absurd and how we live with it. Our life must have meaning for us to value it. If we accept that life has no meaning and therefore no value, should we kill ourselves?

Meursault, the Absurdist hero of L'Étranger, is a murderer who is executed for his crime. Caligula ends up admitting his Absurd logic was wrong and is killed by an assassination he has deliberately brought about. However, while Camus possibly suggests that Caligula's Absurd reasoning is wrong, the play's anti-hero does get the last word, as the author similarly exalts Meursault's final moments.

Camus's understanding of the Absurd promotes public debate; his various offerings entice us to think about the Absurd and offer our own contribution. Concepts such as cooperation, joint effort and solidarity are of key importance to Camus.

Camus made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Absurd, and always rejected nihilism as a valid response.

    "If nothing had any meaning, you would be right. But there is something that still has a meaning." Second Letter to a German Friend, December 1943.

Most people misunderstood Camus. Take the Goth in the CD store. And, I suspect "The Cure" had the same interpretation. What I find as a breath of fresh air, is  the Wikipedia quote. Great authors have a way with making you think, think deeply. They present the obvious, but make it seem absurd. They make you face the big questions head-on, and make your own conclusions.

I know this is not your normal "Feel Good Forum" entry...but what this all says is that cooperation and helping others is the way. Our purpose in life is to help others, any other thought is Absurd!

We are "The Stranger".