Stranger Journal #6

At the end of The Stranger, Meursault comes to the conclusion that nobody and nothing in life really matter, and that in general there is no meaning to the world. With the acceptance of this idea, Meursault is strangely comforted and realizes this is the philosophy that has made him the happiest all along. "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again" (Camus 123). Camus does not want the reader of the book to come to the same conclusion as Meursault. From the beginning of the story, Camus sets up Meursault as an antihero. As the reader spends time discovering Meursault, a character with no expression of emotion and a sense of apathy towards the world, they have a hard time empathizing with him and pushing for him to succeed. Because Meursault is set up as an antihero who the reader does not necessary like, it is difficult for the reader to willingly agree with his actions, traits, and philosophies. Camus takes advantage of his antihero when he uses him to illustrate the philosophy of the lack of meaning of the world and its people. By demonstrating this philosophy through Meursault, Camus deliberately steers the reader away from agreeing with the idea of a world and people with no meaning.