Whether You Agree with Camus or Not, It's Good.

To be honest, this was one of the books we were forced to read for my English class. But, it was actually a book I didn't mind reading at all. Basically, a man, Meursault, lives his life out of touch with any sort of emotion other than what his physical well being allows him to feel. It is because of this careless attitude that sends him to his death. Walking on the beach one afternoon by himself, as his girlfriend and friends are elsewhere, he ends up shooting an Arab that was no doubt a threat to him and his friends. The thing is, Meursault was nearly blinded by the Arab's knife which was reflecting light from the sun, and it was because of this lack of vision that lead Meursault to feel unsafe. So, he shot in the direction of the Arab. It was complete self defense, yet when tried in court, Meursault made no effort to save his life by telling everyone what really happened that day. He made no mention of insecurity. In fact, when asked why he shot the Arab, he simply said, "because the sun was in my eyes". This of course made no sense to anyone, and he was sentenced to death. Throughout the book, Meursault disregards many things: he didn't care that his mother died, except that he had to walk in the heat, he didn't love his girlfriend but agreed to marry her, he didn't care about dying or being in jail, and simply felt none of those things should ever matter to anyone.

One may feel that the author would try to make a point with this, that the character was wrong in some way. Unfortunately, if you know anything about Camus, you know that he believed solely in negative existentialism, thus he pretty much felt the same way that he portrayed Meursault.

Overall, this book was pretty easy to read. It wasn't time consuming, or even boring. It will simply put one to shock over and over again to see the mindset of Meursault. Plus, the novel offers an indirect philosophical question centered around Meursault's demise: Is it okay to kill a man if he doesn't care about living, if he will never contribute in the smallest way anything at all to anyone? The novel will keep you thinking, pondering, and questioning exactly what goes through this guy's mind. I don't agree one bit with what Camus has to say about life, but ultimately, no one I met who has read this book does. This book, in spite of what the author's purpose is, does not serve for one to agree with, but has served to bring certain morale for the reader to consider.