The Characters That Help Make Meursault an Outsider and as a Result Get Meursault's Existentialist Head Chopped Off

Essay by lilo05High School, 12th grade January 2005

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Meursault is an unfeeling, amoral character who is just there, simply living. He lacks feeling and is sort of the epitome of what sensitivity is not. He receives a marriage proposal, and thinks, "Hey, what the hell? I'll marry the girl, it doesn't really make a difference." He is thrown in jail and the things he misses most are cigars and sex. He thinks about Marie as a sort of temple, and misses her for her body, and even though he is engaged to her he still doesn't miss her for her. Albert Camus shows this by creating different characters that directly juxtapose to Meursault and make him an outsider.

Since we are on the subject of Marie Anyway, let's talk about her. She seems to have a sentimental attachment to Meursault while he likes her (mind you, not "loves" her) for her body. Most people love their fiancées, yet when Marie asks Meursault if he loves her he replies, "it doesn't mean anything, but that I don't think so."

(Camus 35). This shows Meursault as an outsider for this reason, that he seems to have the inability to love, and that he is in fact devoid of emotion.

Raymond Sintes, one of Meursault's "pals" serves as a contrast for Camus to show how Meursault is amoral and is passive to the events taking place around him. Raymond creates the drama in his life, and Meursault doesn't really even react to the drama in his. When Raymond believes his mistress is cheating on him he asks Meursault to write a nasty letter to her so Raymond can get "revenge", Meursault absently does and this proves himself passive because he doesn't question the morality of the act. When Meursault deals with whatever is happening around him, he's all, "hey, whatever"...