The Outsider Review

By Isabelle Parker

“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.”

These two opening sentences perfectly set the scene for The Outsider, also known as The Stranger, by Albert Camus. The novel, published in 1942, centres around main character Meursault, who struggles with displaying emotion. The first half of the text portrays Meursault's every day life- from his mother's funeral, to finding a girlfriend, to providing a witness statement for his friend. He finds joy in the scent of flowers on the gentle breeze, and has a calm demeanor- one that is harshly contradicted when he commits murder on a beach. Meursault blame the act of violence on the unbearable heat of the sun, and what follows is a gritty and arduous court case that focuses less on the legal side of the situation, and more on the fact that Meursault refuses to admit regret. When the prosecutor at his court case uses this as an argument against him, Meursault longs to explain that, "I have never been able really to regret anything in all my life. I’ve always been far too much absorbed in the present moment, or the immediate future, to think back."

The Outsider is an exploration of existentialism, a philosophical theory that refers to the existence of an individual as a free and responsible person who determines their life development through acts of will. It questions the meaning of life, and the consequences of actions. Camus has denied this label, but presents the idea that, as all humans will eventually die, life is meaningless. Meursault describes only feeling calm after he lets go of hope and accepts his death, saying that "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe."

The physical versus emotional world becomes a theme in text. Meursault is more interested in the physical aspects of the world, and struggles with the emotional side. His view of reality is distorted, his descriptions subjective, and often perceives people to be something other than they really are. For example, Meursault says of his lawyer and magistrate, "Neither of the two men, at these times, showed the least hostility toward me, and everything went so smoothly, so amiably, that I had an absurd impression of being “one of the family.”" He believes that they are friends simply becomes they treat him with respect and without hostility. Soon after this, the magistrate leads Meursault to the door and hands him back to the jailers, shattering the illusion.

Most predominantly, The Outsider explores absurdism, the belief that the world, society, and existence in general is absurd. One idea from this theory is that there is no higher power, which Meursault is shown to follow when he refuses to believe in God. Common conflicts in absurdism are the rational man against the irrational universe and intention versus outcome. These are explored when Meursault is pitted against the universe and seemingly trivial constructs that society has created, and when he tries to explain the reasons behind his actions, but comes up short. The text reveals how many expectations society has of people, and what happens when someone goes against them.

I found The Outsider to be engrossing, compelling, and hard to put down. The views presented were the first of their time, as Camus is often labelled as the father of absurdism. The main character was refreshing, as he differs from the same hero-type protagonist often found in novels. Despite the text being written in first person, it was hard to fully grasp the reason behind Meursault's sudden act of violence, which made for an even more riveting experience. The Outsider presents new and interesting ideas, and has certainly stayed with me after the final page.

In summary, The Outsider is a philosophical novel that explores existentialism, the physical world, and absurdism. It is a wonderful portrayal of the rules that govern today's society, and a fresh take on humanity and the meaning of life.