The Outsider by Albert Camus

A detailed Summary of The Outsider by Albert Camus

This is an analysis on The Outsider by Albert Camus, an existentialist novel that details the life of Meursault, an anti-hero who refuses to play the game and conform to social norms, through a series of life changing events. The Outsider presents a strong relationship between the style of the text and it's meaning, and it is exactly these things that will be explained throughout the remaining portion of this essay. The style of the text is spoken in the words of Meursault, simple and at most times, impassionate, yet it uses imagery and the elements of nature often to relay emotions to the reader. Behind the text are the themes of existentialism, human experience and social expectancies, which work together to create meaning. Through various links in the style of text, one can thus connect to its meanings.

Analysis of the novel's style should begin by recognizing the story's basic structure. There are three deaths, which mark the beginning, middle, and end of the story. First, Meursault's mother dies. This death occurs before the narration starts, but marks the start of Meursault's downfall. In the middle of the tale we have the death of an Arab. The defining events in The Outsider are set in motion by Meursault

We can come to conclude that within the novel The Outsider is a strong sense of style and meaning. Within the style are points of imagery, the forces of the sun and heat, Meursault's outlook on life and his negative impassion. Within the meaning are numerous themes, some not even covered in this essay, each covering the messages that Camus was trying to convey to his readers. And of course, there is the main question at hand, that there is relationship between both of these, which links one to the other. Through Meursault's character one can find all meaning.

's apparent murder of the Arab, which is triggered by the enraging heat and other combined elements that seem to pursue him throughout the story. At the end of the novel, Meursault is executed. Interestingly, Meursault's name is also symbolic and backs up the points presented on the style of text. Mer means "sea" and Soliel is French for "sun." The sea and sun meet at the beach, where Meursault's fateful act occurs. During times of normality, Meursault sees things in very black and white terms. But when the suns rays thicken, everything exaggerates. At the end of chapter two, Meursault details the perverse effects that the 'sun-drenched sky' has on him. He describes the black, melting tar. By this stage he mentions the blood pounding in his temples. Then he mentions the great tears streaming down Perez's face, and how they formed a watery glaze over his face. This was the clearness, the white, as well as the white flesh of the roots amongst the blood-red earth, which tumbled upon his mother's coffin. It was the severe, blistering heat that inspired all of these images to arise.

The next major event, sparked by the elements and most importantly, the heat, was when Meursault shot the Arab dead. He even says himself, under the pressure of the sun, that "It was the same sun as on the day of mother's funeral", which was where the last plethora of images, colors and heat struck him. Once again he mentions the throbbing in his veins and in his forehead. There was the glint of light lunging at his forehead from the Arab's sword, and again another glaze of liquid, except on his own face this time. The cymbals of the sun clashed against his forehead, yet more powerful and lyrical imagery, brought to life by the power of the heat. The imagery goes on, even more powerful than the previous time, and leads him to fire five bullets into the Arabs body. Physical sensations always cloud Meursault's judgment - but also bring him the most pleasure in life. As well as that, Meursault comments "I knew that as soon as it began to get hot something new was going to happen to me." This in itself is a key link to the relationship between human experiences, but will be explained in greater detail later on.

Now behind the novel itself one can find much meaning, which in this essay is divided into three parts: Existentialism, human experience and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Emotionally Meursault, Meursault Throughout, Soliel French, Albert Camus, Outsider Meursault, Physically Meursault, Interestingly Meursault's, style text, human experience, social expectancies, , social norms, meaning style, style meaning, play game, relationship style, existentialism human, mother's funeral, existentialism human experience, style text it's, experience social expectancies, camus trying convey, relationship style text,

Approximate Word count = 1956
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels