The Stranger Seminar Prep
1. What message do you think Camus is trying to share with his reader about how to live a life of meaning? What can you learn from Mersault’s personality and his experience throughout the novel about how to live (or not live) your own life?
I found Mersaults character in The Stranger a very good lesson of both how to, and how not to live my life. I found his disconnection to everything very unappealing because it made me wonder; what is the point of living a life without passion for anything? Life is the longest thing that somebody will ever do, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be the most drawn out. I think that humans should take every opportunity they have to experience happiness and passion in life because it will make this bizarre “thing” that we do worth it. Often times, it seems that the significance of human life is only understood in light of mortality or the face of death.
On the other hand, Mersault’s living completely devoid of fear or urgency helped ensure that he did not suffer loss. His mother dying did not affect him, and the looming fate of losing his life was just another event. He also lived in a way that did not cause him to rush through life. Often times people stress from the constant pressures of money, job, and family. The world is moving so fast that we have to struggle to keep up. Mersault just seems to coast along without getting too attached to any of the modern day pressures and therefore does not experience the stress and dread of most people.
2. Why did Mersault hesitate to shoot the gun?
Right before Mersault pulls the trigger, he feels dazed and drunken because his senses were quickly overwhelmed. I think that shooting the Arab was his act of existential struggle and murdering somebody represented an extreme act of bringing his life meaning. He is struggling with the angst of having the power to kill or not without any outside influences effecting his decision. In this scene, it almost seems like Mersault is acting out of instinct and he shoots the gun without intent. After the first shot his initial fear goes away and he chooses to fire the gun four more times.
I found Mersaults character in The Stranger a very good lesson of both how to, and how not to live my life. I found his disconnection to everything very unappealing because it made me wonder; what is the point of living a life without passion for anything? Life is the longest thing that somebody will ever do, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be the most drawn out. I think that humans should take every opportunity they have to experience happiness and passion in life because it will make this bizarre “thing” that we do worth it. Often times, it seems that the significance of human life is only understood in light of mortality or the face of death.
On the other hand, Mersault’s living completely devoid of fear or urgency helped ensure that he did not suffer loss. His mother dying did not affect him, and the looming fate of losing his life was just another event. He also lived in a way that did not cause him to rush through life. Often times people stress from the constant pressures of money, job, and family. The world is moving so fast that we have to struggle to keep up. Mersault just seems to coast along without getting too attached to any of the modern day pressures and therefore does not experience the stress and dread of most people.
2. Why did Mersault hesitate to shoot the gun?
Right before Mersault pulls the trigger, he feels dazed and drunken because his senses were quickly overwhelmed. I think that shooting the Arab was his act of existential struggle and murdering somebody represented an extreme act of bringing his life meaning. He is struggling with the angst of having the power to kill or not without any outside influences effecting his decision. In this scene, it almost seems like Mersault is acting out of instinct and he shoots the gun without intent. After the first shot his initial fear goes away and he chooses to fire the gun four more times.