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Essay / Analysis of Albert Camus' Writing Style
Most of Albert Camus' writings focus on the philosophy of the absurd. His main character in the novel, The Stranger, exemplifies what an absurd man is and his essay The Myth of Sisyphus guides readers through his reasoning for his belief and the conclusion he reaches. According to him, Camus' philosophy of life is that life has no meaning since there is an endless circular path of meaning that can only end in suicide. By this he means that if someone were to find meaning in living, they would eventually lose that reason for living and would have to make a choice. It's about committing suicide or trying to find another meaning. The only end to this cycle is death, otherwise preemptively ending it would be suicide. For Camus, the absurd is irrational in its form. Camus also shows that absurdity is an unstoppable force. The absurd also does not think or consider the future with his actions. Then the circular argument about the meaning of life has only two options to follow. Camus also describes the absurdity of man's relationship to time. Finally, Camus sees suicide as a response to the absurdity of life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayCamus believes that the universe acts in irrational or absurd ways. As Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray says, “The absurd, for Camus, has two sources: the universe and death. The first is the idea that absurdity lies in the chaos and irrationality of the universe” (Baltzer-Jaray) The universe can respect its laws; however, he acts irrationally in certain situations. This does not rationalize events such as human will. If a soldier is captured as a prisoner of war and succumbs to brutal torture at the hands of his enemies. This soldier would consider this situation absurd. What necessity was there for him to be tortured as a prisoner of war? It could be explained that the enemy wanted the information to benefit them; however, the soldier would not be as willing to forgive the horrible treatment he received and would view the event as absurd. Camus explains this by the fact that the universe acts irrationally. Just as the absurd is irrational and unpredictable, the absurd is also unstoppable in its effects. Camus considers absurdity to be the failure to take the future into account. The absurd doesn't stop and wonder if what he does now will affect what might happen in the future. Camus' main character in the novel The Stranger illustrates absurdity. Meursault does not act in preparation for future events. As Dilek Baskaya says in his essay, “Another particularity of Meursault which makes him absurd is that he only perceives and experiences the present time whereas in a society, people are supposed to have the notion of the three phases of time » (Baskaya). He mentions that as a society, people consider three phases of time: past, present and future. People will consider past mistakes and strive not to repeat them, they will think about what is happening in the present and plan accordingly, and people will prepare for their future with a retirement fund. Meursault does not think in terms of the past or the future, he only considers what is happening in the present moment. Throughout the novel, he does not plan any activities with people. He simply accepts whatever is offered to him. The novel follows his thoughts and rarely mentions how his past has affected the present or will affect the future. He rarely thinks twice about his actions, such as killing a man. There was hardly any time for reflection between the moment Meursault saw the Arab and the moment he killed him.Meursault does not think about this moment rationally, but absurdly. The absurdity that Camus is trying to describe is shown in Meursault's trial. Any sane human being would try to make their case in order to be acquitted or receive the least severe punishment possible. This kind of thinking is not Meursault's. Rather, to defend himself, he remains silent and shows little to no emotion, just like he did at his mother's funeral. The prosecutor even uses it against him during his trial: “I accuse the prisoner of having behaved during his mother's funeral in a way that showed that he was already a criminal at heart” (Camus 60). Meursault's absurd way of thinking is demonstrated during his trial by his attitude and responses. The interest of the accused's testimony is to best defend the reasons which pushed you to commit the crime; however, Meursault does not take full advantage of this opportunity to explain himself to the jury. Even though Camus believed that absurdity was present in everything; he believes there is an end to life. This ending that Camus has just discovered is death. One of the biggest questions in philosophy: “To be or not to be.” Camus believes that every human being desires to find the meaning of life, to feel a sense of purpose and determination. This meaning of life is what motivates people to strive in everything they do, whether it is teaching, healing people, or constructing buildings. Without it, humans lose sight of what to work on. For Camus, life has no meaning. He explains that life is a circular debate that can only end with death. In Camus's “The Myth of Sisyphus,” he says, “in a universe suddenly stripped of illusions and lights, man feels foreign, alien. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land” (Camus 497). Camus explains that when the universe becomes transparent, man experiences exile and there seems to be no hope of a better future like paradise. It is at this moment that man is faced with the decision proposed by Camus to end it now or continue on the endless circular path until death. Camus also sees an irrational way of thinking when a man thinks about his position in time. Camus describes depending and placing our hope in the future as absurd. As children we always wish we could be older or as adults we long to retire so we can stop working. Camus declares: “He belongs to time, and to the horror which seizes him, he recognizes his worst enemy. Tomorrow, he aspired to tomorrow, while everything in him should reject it” (Camus 503). Camus realizes that tomorrow is not what humans should live for because it will never stop until it is too late. When you are on your deathbed, you will realize that tomorrow is not what you should hope for. Why should people want to die faster? Camus explains that this realization is absurd since it is ridiculous to desire a time closer to death. People are supposed to fear death and the uncertainty associated with it doesn't take long to fear it. Camus also explains that suicide is not just the end of the circular path. Camus interprets the act of committing suicide as an admission of defeat. The man contemplates suicide because he cannot continue and does not have the strength to continue. As stated in an article by Ronald Aronson, “Camus sees this question of suicide as a natural response to an underlying premise, namely that life is absurd in many ways” (Aronson). Suicide is caused by the absurdity of life and our inability to.