The StrangerIntro to Key Terms and Ideas

Albert CamusBorn in Algeria in 1913 to working class parents

Raised in Muslim faith and solidarity

Father died fighting for France in WWI

Raised by illiterate motherMany of his works feature a mother-son relationship

Came down with TB at age 17 and was forced to leave home and begin exploring independence and a solitary existence

Majored in Philosophy

Worked as a journalist, was involved in theatre, and wrote essays about Muslims in Europe

Joined the French Resistance in WWII

Died in a car crash in 1960

French and Arab Conflict in Algeria

The French colonized a predominately Arab Algeria, resulting in an ideological, economic, and cultural clash.

Literary Qualities in The Stranger

Ambiguity

Narration and Point of View

Plot

Conflict

Paradox

What is the relationship between literature and

philosophy?

TermsSkepticism

Deals with whether or not we can know or believe that we know that we have any knowledge about a thing

NihilismEssentially a theory in which a person believes in nothing—life is meaningless (has no purpose) and all concepts and actions are empty

FatalismHuman action does not matter because it is ruled by desinty or fate

AbsurdismPhilosphy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe ultimately fail (and, hence, are absurd) because no such meaning existsman’s desire to live a long life when death is inevitable

• Existentialism…

Existentialism

A chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

An Existentialist is…• Concerned with…

• The freedom and responsibility of the individual• The individual’s alienation from society• Facing life without the comfort of believing in

GOD

• Believes…• Happiness exists only in the present• “I think, therefore I am” (Descartes)• Nature offers beauty and misery• Life is beastly, and then you die• Death fulfills nothing

An Existentialist….• Lives for the moment.

• Cares nothing about the past or the future.

• Is oblivious to correlation of action and consequence.

• Believes no caring supreme being exists.

• Believes the world is chaotic, absurd, and indifferent.

• Believes that man is responsible for his decisions.

• Believes no set moral standards/rules exist.

Existentialist Themes

Societal expectations

Man as machine

Meaninglessness

Isolation

Death

The Myth of SisyphusIn 1942, Camus wrote an essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus,”Condemned by the Gods for disrespect, Sisyphus and his eternal punishment symbolize the human struggle for existence.

Sisyphus is condemned by the gods to ceaselessly roll a rock to the top of a mountain, where the stone falls back of its own weight. The gods thought that there was no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.

Sisyphus is an absurd hero because of his eternal torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him the fate of spending his life accomplishing nothing.