In The Stranger, by Albert Camus, the main character Meursault progresses from being worried about death to accepting the world’s indifference and living his life authentically in the time he has left. Meursault awaits his death in a prison cell listening to the sounds and smells of nature outside, wondering when the guards will come and take him for execution. Meursault then realizes and accepts the universe’s indifference toward human affairs and decides to live his life in high spirits. Meursault’s incident can be compared to going on a vacation, it is better to do fun activities on vacation, compared to worrying about how boring life is going to be back at home. This is similar to how Meursault should not fret about death, because it will only bring him unhappiness, instead, he should live his life authentically in the time he has left. Meursault opens himself to the indifference of the world at human affairs and chooses to live his life fully and in happiness.
At the end of the book, when Meursault is in his prison cell, he tolerates his death and the indifference of the world. When he waits for his execution, Meursault notes the “sounds of the countryside drifting in [and] smells of night, earth, and salt air cooling [his] temples”(Camus 122) and providing him with peace and calm. After meeting the chaplain who wanted him to believe in God and going on a rage, Meursault gives up on hope that he will be able to avoid the suffering. When he accepts his death via guillotine, he realizes that he is able to find happiness and live authentically now. He opens “[himself] to the gentle indifference of the world” (Camus 122) and the idea that the universe is indifferent to human affairs. Since people are not able to control their fate, the only way to be happy is to not fight against death. Meursault finds happiness as he opens himself to human existence and is satisfied with where he is at in life. He only hopes “to feel less alone [and wishes] that there be a large crowd of spectators” (Camus 123) during his execution to accompany him. After trying to find ways to escape the guillotine and his death, Meursault achieves his state of indifference and opens up to the indifference of the world and fully lives his life.
From my perspective, I agree with Meursault’s actions in the end of the book, because accepting fate and death will lead to happiness, unlike struggling against death. He realized that his personal experiences with indifference were similar to the world’s indifference towards humans and found the indifference of the universe relatable, “like a brother” (Camus 123). He wanted to satisfied and content all the way to the point he died, so he wanted companionship at his execution. By opening up to human existence, Meursault was able to connect himself to the world, and live his life fully and contentedly in the short time he still had, knowing that it was impossible to escape death.
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My personal experience related to how Meursault’s thinking is going on a trip to Las Vegas with my family. At our stay there, we went to exciting places and filled out trip with happiness and entertainment. We went to lots of buffets and shopped at numerous stores, wandering around the streets of Las Vegas. We experienced new things that we have never done, including driving through scenic places and taking pictures of fancy looking rocks. This trip to Las Vegas was entertaining and memorable and I believe I was living in the moment and living my life to the fullest.
During the trip, instead of worrying about how boring life was going to be back at home, we were filled with enjoyment in the things we did. This is similar to how Meursault was feeling awaiting his death, he wanted to live his last few moments in life with content and not think about when it is going to end. We filled ourselves with happiness and did not fret at the thought of going back to a monotonous life at home, in Meursault’s case, dying.
Meursault accepts the world’s indifference at human existence and gives up hope on thinking that he will survive. He accepts the reality and chooses to live his life to the fullest and is ready to live it all again before he dies. I compared this to a vacation, because thinking about going back to a boring life at home instead of enjoying the actual vacation would bring sadness. This is similar to why Meursault would not want to think about death, since it brings unhappiness, and he chooses to look on the bright side and live the rest of his life authentically.
