"Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know. (...) That doesn't mean anything."
Albert Camus (1913), author of The Outsider, was Algerian, he studied psychology at the university of Algiers and became a journalist and an organiser of a young avant-garde dramatic group, Theatre de Lequipe. The Outsider was published after Albert got back to Paris in 1942(after German occupation during II WW). During the war Camus contributed to underground newspaper while being a member of resistance. In 1957 he was awarded a Nobel prise for literature.
The Ousider is a manifesto of existentialism, it describes through the main character, Meursault, all the behaviour and attitude towards life and human's existence that the perfect existentialism would have.
The time is continuous for Meursault, nothing matters and nothing can touch his emotions, even his own mother's funeral, "I'm going to ask them to close up the coffin. Before I do, would you like to see your mother one last time?" asked the caretaker, "I said no." replied Meursault. Nothing changes and nothing has a meaning for him, "I saw a reflection in the mirror a corner of my table where my spirit-lamp was standing beside some pieces of bread. I realised that I'd managed to get through another Sunday, that mother was now burried, that I was going to go back to work and that after all, nothing had changed.
Meursault's relationship with the neighbours was built on the basis of the fact that they were his neighbours so they became part of his life not that he actually wanted to meet them or get to know them. An old man with the dog had his everyday routine of swearing at his dog and was a perfect reflection of how existentialists approve of the routine in their lives. Raymund, later became part of a reason of a breaking point in Meursault's life. Raymund was a criminal who bullied his own girlfriend; he had an irresistible need of punishing her for things that may have been purely in his imagination. His need to hurt his girlfriend was so strong that he created a perfect reason to justify his violence towards her- an affair. Meursault ignores it he does not see any reason why he should get involved and help the beaten girl and sees nothing bad in Raymund's behaviour. Since these two become mates who start to see each other more. Raymund tells Meursault to write a letter to his girlfriend and to be a witness and tell the police that the girl was cheating on him. Meursault agrees because he "doesn't mind" doing it. He sees only that Raymund is friendly towards him and so he doesn't matter what Raymund asks of him, he wouldn't mind doing whatever would that be. When a woman, Mary appears in Meursault's life things still stay the same, there is no emotional attachment, no romantic affection... there is physical attraction and situations that happen to make the two to keep seeing each other. The only emotions that come out of Meursault's mouth are described in the way that he "fancied her" because "she was wearing a pretty red and white striped dress and leather sandals". Another 'romantic' experience that Meursault had with Marie was when they went to the beach and enjoyed the summer night together. After a while, when Mary asked him if he loved her, he said that "it didn't mean anything but that he didn't think so" and so he read her reaction as "she looked sad"- these are the only emotional discoveries that were seen through Meursault's eyes. He could potentially name the emotional states that people were in but he was not able to experience them himself.
Was he really unable? And was it following a philosophical movement, existentialism and being aware of it? Or was it purely ignorance or perhaps mental illness, autism?
Meursault's boss told him that he has no ambition and Meursault thought nothing of it and could see no reason why he should change his life. He said, "Come to think of it, I wasn't unhappy. When I was a student I had plenty of that sort of ambition. But when I had to give up my studies, I very soon realised that that none of it really mattered."
Chapter 6 takes us straight to the darkest possible implementation of existential lack of moral and emotional response from Meursault, "I realised that I'd destroyed the balance of the day and the perfect silence of this beach where I'd been happy. And I fired four more times at lifeless body and the bullets sank in without leaving a mark. And it was like giving four sharp knocks at the door of unhappiness." When he murdered one of men that previously attacked him and Raymund he thought nothing else of it than his personal disturbance of enjoyable day.
Meursault's trial for murder gained popularity amongst journalists, while being questioned Meursault said that it was the first time "in years, I stupidly felt like crying because I could feel how much all these people hated me." It was also put forward that his behaviour was rather heartless when his mother died. When hearing the caretaker's evidence in the court, Meursault for the first time realised, he was guilty.
Prosecutor recognised the there was a "profound, tragic and vital relationship" between emotionless behaviour on the funeral and killing a man. "Yes, I accuse this man of burying his mother like a heartless criminal," said prosecutor, and that had a remarkable effect on the jury's verdict. Meursault was said to have no soul and his empty heart makes him a man that threatens to "engulf society." He should have no place within the society, which fundamental rules, he ignored and could have no appeal to heart when he "knew nothing of the basic human reactions."
"My last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectators at my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hatred."
The University of Winchester Journalism Course
History and Context of Journalism, part IV , lecture in week 3 Albert Camus, The Outsder
