To existentialists? our world is a universe in which independence, freedom,
and choice all play a major role. This further explains the principle that ?Man
is nothing else but what he makes of himself.? The Stranger, by Albert Camus
reflects this philosophy in many ways.
Mr. Meursault the main character seems to live in his own world, socializing
with others, but apathetic about what happens in his life. For example, when
his mother died, his thoughts were, \"Mother died today. Or, maybe
yesterday; I can\'t be sure.\" (1) He did not have any extreme feelings
about her death; he just accepted it and decided that is was destined to
happen. He kept himself busy by indulging himself in materialistic comforts
like smoking, drinking, and sex. When his girlfriend, Marie wanted him to marry
her, he said he would. He explains: \"Marie came that evening and asked me
if I\'d marry her. I said I didn\'t mind; if she was keen on it, we\'d get
married.\" (52) He didn\'t seem to care one-way or the other. His life was
full of existentialism, for he believed that life just happened, nothing you
could do would change the future, and that everything happened for a reason.
At the end of the story when Meursault is going to be executed, he pondered his
fate. He refused to see the priest before his execution because he felt that he
had done nothing wrong when he shot an innocent Arab not once, but five times.
He seemed to extricate pleasure from the thought of everyone shouting at him
with all the bitterness and hate that had built up inside of them. At the same
time, he didn\'t seem to worry too much that he was going to be punished by
death.