Albert Camus Essays

Comparison of how Shusaku Endo in Wonderful Fool and Albert Camus in The Outsider have used moral issues to develop their works It is debatable whether morality is a code of conduct that is considered right by society or whether it is a code unilaterally decided upon by an individual. When we consider morality as […]

In Albert Camus’ short story “The Guest,” Camus raises numerous philosophical questions. These are: does man have free will? , are an individual’s decisions affected by what society demands, expects, neither, or both? , and finally, how does moral and social obligation affect decision making? Balducci brings the Arab to Daru’s door, informing Daru that […]

The Outsider is a novel about how death is nothing: the ultimate conclusion of and alternative to life, and as such is uniquely beautiful and not to be afraid of. A Streetcar Named Desire, on the other hand, presents death as a terrifying and unfortunately intrinsic aspect of life, from which Blanche runs. Meursault similarly […]

Albert Camus’ The Stranger is a literary classic renowned for its display of the philosophy of absurdism. In order to convey this concept, many literary techniques were used, but in particular, Camus made great use of the sun and heat as symbols of belligerence and frustration and of darkness as a symbol of comfort and […]

Robert Ludlum commented that “Characterization is integral to the theatrical experience. ” 1 This rings true in the play Antigone, written by Jean Anouilh, and can be extended to the novel, The Outsider by Albert Camus, since both authors use characterization to important effect. Their manipulation of style, foils, imagery and action to typify the […]

The two principle questions revolving around punishment are, “What gives us the moral right to punish anyone when we are imperfect ourselves? ” and “What do we hope to accomplish when we punish someone? ” Punishment is a penalty imposed for wrongdoing. Injustice is the violation of another’s rights or of what is right; lack […]

In Albert Camus’ experiential novel The Stranger. the inanity of life and being is exposed and expounded upon in such a mode that the full foundation of spiritualty is shaken. The construct that drives this novel is one coined by Albert Camus himself. the “absurd”. Under the absurd life is unpointed and holds no significance. […]

I. Biographical Insights A. Albert Camus cultures consist of being a novelist, literature and short story writer of many books. He wrote an essay on the state of Muslims in Algeria, causing him to lose his job and he moved to Paris. Albert Camus also joined the French resistance against the Nazis and became an […]

Albert Camus, in his novel The Plague, presents many arguments about how he foresees a positive change in the world through manipulation of behavior on the personal level. Sigmund Freud, in his works, specifically Civilization and Its Discontents, presents his view of human nature and what is innately problematic about it. Both Freud and Camus […]

Albert Camus is an existential philosopher who holds the view that human beings consistently desire to understand the meaning of life and their existence as well. He suggested that human beings cannot really live their lives comfortably or define their existence as something definite or conclusive. They must face the reality that the world offers […]

As an art-adventurer of a time which was slowly getting optimistic after the devastation of World War I, Andre Malraux was a cult figure among the early existentialists. Along with Andre Gide whose literary career spanned far more than any of the contemporary writers, Malraux through his works unleashed an attack against the outdated sense […]

Camas and Descartes both have something to say about life, its happenings and the reason why things are the way they are.  Camas believes in the absurd while Descartes believes in rationalism.  These two ways of thinking are very different indeed and completely clash against one another.  Those of the logical mind will generally agree […]

1. What is the central conflict in the story? Is it external or internal? Can it be defined in terms of a dilemma? In the short story “The Guest” by Albert Camus, the main conflict in the story is Daru, regarding his internal struggle and having to send the Arab back to the French officials. […]

Albert Camus’ The Stranger and J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye are both among the most important and innovative novels of the twentieth century, however it is not the only similarity shared in common by these two masterpieces. The modern world’s general moral change and the individual’s alienation from the society serve as […]

Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a French novelist , essayist , dramatist, regarded as one of the finest philosophical writers of modern France. He earned a world –wide reputation as a novelist and essayist and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957. Through his writings and I some measure against his will, he became the […]

In the novel Perfume by Patrick S? skind, the protagonist Grenouille has this ambition to create the ultimate scent. It is this sheer ambition of his that leads him on an epic journey. The protagonist of The Outsider by Albert Camus is Mersault. They are portrayed as outsiders through their actions and reactions to situations. […]

Meursault in The Stranger by Camus appears as a comatose person who makes his decision at the last minute. He is unreasonable in the society as he disobeys its rules and habits, so he deserves his execution after he killed an Arab in the process of self-defense. Although, Meursault seems implausible and unfriendly at the […]

In his novel The Stranger, Albert Camus expresses his philosophy of the absurd: The irrationality of the universe, the meaninglessness of human life, the “importance” of the physical world. Camus is too concerned with the creation of meaning in a meaningless world through the process of living life. The novel is a first-person account of […]