The Stranger written by Albert Camus is a book of the absurd. To fully understand this French classic, I believe you must understand the concept of absurdism.

The definition of absurdism is “the philosophy based on the belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless and that the search for order brings the individual into conflict with the universe,” according to Merriam-Webster.

Now when reading this rather short, but heavy novel, I saw no problem with our protagonist Meursault. Then as this novel went on, his actions became increasingly irrational. The way he described the events around him was as if he was not a part of it all. Giving to it as if he was a detached figure, leads me to my point of view that you must understand absurdism to understand the thoughts of Meursault.

I see him in a way of not being able to feel anything except the hard concept that he was going to be condemned, like everyone else, so why must when matter?

This is said in the novel by Meursault, furthering his belief in the absurd.

“Well, so I’m going to die.’ Sooner than other people will, obviously. But everybody knows life is not worth living. Deep down I knew perfectly well that it does not much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy, since in either case other men and women will naturally go on living – and for thousands of years,” Meursault says.

This is not an accusation of this novel being absurdism, simply a fact, this is a novel of the absurd and how it is depicted from a man who believes it. Rightfully so the author of this novel, Albert Camus, was a philosopher believing in the absurd, going as far as being dubbed “Father of Absurdism.”

So, to not think this novel was absolutely insane and purely dark, you would have to be able to grasp the concept in Camus’ philosophy. It is a challenging idea to grasp, for me at least, for everything we do to be completely meaningless. Though my disagreement with this did not make this novel any less fascinating and simply page turning.