Camus constantly refuted any affiliation with the label existentialist philosopher. And yet he is so often categorized and named as such. Despite Camus denial as being an existentialist, in his novel The Outsider (1942) he presents an existentialist narrative, in which the moral core of society is presented as irrational. Furthermore Camus takes an absurdist approach on the human condition, and to cap it off leads the reader through the novel from a first person narration of Meursault, the epitome of the perfect ‘Absurd Man’.
Throughout The Outsider Camus presents Meursault as the perfect depiction of what the ‘Absurd Man’ should be. Within Part 1 the reader is introduced to Meursault’s free and content life, with little thought to the value of social norms. Meursault enjoys a life of sensory pleasure, smoking cigarettes and going to the beach, he does what pleases him. Within the end of part 2 the reader is presented a reflective Meursault facing his execution, who in spite of this maintains his integrity and faces his condemnation with understanding of the world and the life he has had. What Camus presents through this depiction of Meursault is not only a true depiction of the absurd struggle between the human tendency to seek meaning and value in life in world lacking of one, but also an answer to how one ought to live one's life in the face of its lack of meaning. Even though Meursault attends his mother's funeral in part 1 Camus focuses heavily on the pleasure and happiness Meursault finds in his day to day life after the funeral. The reader is presented with a character that feels little emotion and unhappiness in the face of his mother's death. Meursault finds his mother's funeral more of a grievance because of its inconvenience: “I thought how nice it would be to go for a long walk, if it hadn't been for Mama.”. The meaning people attach to the death and funeral of a loved one poses a inconvenience to Meursault and his happiness. As made clear in Meursault's reflection on death as he himself faces death in prison in part 2: “it didn't matter much whether you died at thirty or at seventy”. Meursault does not find sadness in something as inevitable as death and so he goes on after his mother's funeral not mourning but rather enjoying himself through the sensory pleasures he can attain in life: watching a comedy, Marie (his girlfriend), swimming in the hot sun and smoking cigarettes. Meursault lives by his own inclinations, he does not accept his bosses offer to move to Paris, because he does not want to, he writes the letter for Raymond because “I had no reason not to make him happy”. Although Paris could have been a great opportunity for Meursault, and knowing of Raymond’s intentions towards his girlfriend, Meursault does these things because he sees no reason not to, he does not attach social values given to Paris or see social moral norms of kindness and respect. Meursault lives only by himself and the meaning and value he creates for himself. Meursault remains honest and true to himself. A quality strongly exemplified during his trial and in his conversations with the Chaplain and the Judge. “He (the chaplin) told me he was sure that my appeal would be granted but i was carrying a heavy sin and i had to unburden myself.” Meursault does not lie to the chaplin, he does not lie to the Judge and he does not lie in the trial, Meursault does not pretend to feel remorse for his crime, and therefore the pillars of society representing all of society's norms and conventions condemn him to death. When facing death, reflecting on himself and life in prison, meursault does not turn and hide from death: “i opened myself for the first time to the tender indifference of the world” (pg. 111) he embraces it, maintains his honesty and feels at peace in his understanding of the happiness he has felt throughout his life. Meursault does not hide behind false meaning and value in social conventions such as religion but rather faces his death hoping “there would be many, many spectators on the day of my execution and that they would greet me with cries of hatred.”. Meursault is the epitome of Camus ‘Absurd man’. He does not live by any given values but rather lives life by his own inclinations and attaches his own values to pleasurable activities, living honestly and happily in the face of the worlds lack of inherent meaning as man kind attempts to find meaning within it. Meursault lives an authentic existence.
Within The Outsider Camus further develops an existentialist narrative in which he highlights the senseless moral core of society in a world in which there is no inherent morality. Camus does so through ornate descriptions of the weather in order to highlight the intensity of its influence on Meursault. So much so that the weather leads Meursault to murder a man for which he is prosecuted based on unfair justifications. In contrast to Meursault's descriptions of other things in his life, which he usually just glosses over, Camus places attention on the weather by using much more descriptive imagery: “I wanted to return to the soft sound of the water,”. Through this the reader is able to comprehend the intensity with which Meursault's actions are controlled by the weather. Meursault kills the arab because: “The sky seemed to split apart from end to end to pour its fire down upon me. My whole body tensed as i gripped the gun more tightly. It set off the trigger.”. Camus uses “it” in relation to pulling the trigger, as if it weren't Meursault who killed the man but rather the weather itself. This irrational reasoning behind killing the arab starkly opposes any of societies moral norms and so presents to the reader the question whether societies guidelines are as completely rational as following inclinations brought on by the weather. The following trial of Meursault similarly supports Camus criticism of societies irrational moral core. Rather than the actions of Meursault killing the man being judged, his character is evaluated. Meursault states: “It was almost as if my case was being tried without me.”, emphasising how the point of meursault's trial was becoming lost to trivial matters, such as whether he smoked a cigarette in front of his mother's casket. Instead of being trialed for the murder of the arab Meursault is being judged on how well he follows societal norms and conventions. With this unfair prosecution of Meursault, Camus criticises societal norms and highlights the irrationality of the moral core humans have created, in a world in which there is none.
Furthermore Camus puts forward the absurdist idea of the human condition in light of human natures tendency to search for meaning in an irrational and illogical world lacking of meaning. Within the Outsider Camus presents parallels to his interpretation of the Myth of Sisyphus; Sisyphus, doomed to roll a large boulder up a hill just to watch it roll back down again, must be envisioned as being happy in doing so. This repetitive cycle can be seen in Meursault's description of Salamano and his dog. Salamano received his dog in an attempt to replace the loneliness he felt at the loss of his wife, even though as Salamano tells Meursault: “He hadn't been happy with his wife but in the end he'd got used to being with her.”. Both Salamano and his dog haven't changed their walking routine in 8 years, repetitively every day the dog makes Salamano trip so Salamano “hits the dog and curses him”. Both hate each other, and yet when Salamano loses his dog and the repetitive cycle is broken, much like when his wife died, the reader sees Salamano sad and lost. Salamano is stuck rolling the boulder up the hill, he says: I hope the dogs won't bark tonight. I always think that one of them is mine.”. Salamano’s repetitive loss he feels at the death of his wife and dog liken the continuous cycle of Sisyphus. Camus further shows the reader the constant repetitive actions of the human condition, always searching for meaning; always rolling the boulder up the hill, through Meursault's description of his mother. Meursault tells us his mother often cried ”the first few days she was at the old peoples home”. She had previously merly silently watched Meursault come and go when she lived at his house, and had yet cried at this change in routine. As meursault tells us had she been taken out of the home after a few months she would have also cried for the same reason. Camus portrays through this the human tendency to find meaning in life, but as the world inherently lacks meaning, the meaning humans find for themselves inevitably must, like Sisyphus boulder, roll down the hill, and be lost to change.
Despite Camus own disassociation with being an existentialist philosopher we can clearly see many existentialist as well as Absurdist themes in The Outsider. Camus presents to the reader a main character who embodies the epitome of the ‘Absurd Man’, Meursault, who lives an authentic existence; following his own inclinations rather than social conventions, living honestly and freely despite being sentenced to death. Camus also highlights the irrational moral norms and conventions that society has developed in a world which lacks such inherent concepts. Camus further depicts in The Outsider the absurd human condition, creating parallels to the Myth of Sisyphus in order to emphasise human natures perpetual cycle, attempting to find meaning in life in a world in which there is none. In this way Camus emphasises an existentialist narrative focusing predominantly on absurdist themes.