Controversial Classics: The Stranger

The Stranger was my required reading this summer in preparation for senior year. I had always wanted to read it, but never quite got around to it.

The novel revolves around Mersault, an apathetic and alienated man. His mother had just died, and he attends her funeral, but doesn't feel much. Over the course of the novel, there are foils to him such as his girlfriend, who is very emotional, and his best friend, who is a "bad person". The novel explores themes of existentialism and normalcy, and whether there is a line between being "bad" or apathetic.

This novel is often challenged and banned for its explorations of an immoral protagonist, detachment from societal norms, violence and racism, as well as anti-religious implications.

The central philosophy of this novel is undoubtedly absurdism, coined by the author himself, Albert Camus. The novel explores how humans crave meaning in their lives; a purpose for why they were put on Earth and how they must complete it. Camus argues that the world has no purpose. The world is unpredictable and chaotic, and no human is born with divine purpose. Camus accepts this without crisis or despair, As Mersault does. Mersault is detached and not fearful of his own death, for he knows the world is meaningless and random.