The Anti-Hero as a Philosophical King-Pin: A Critical Study of Meursault in Albert Camus' L'etranger

Abstract

Albert Camus' novel, L'etranger without doubt remains an outstanding work of 20th century European literature. It is one of the key works that has successfully captured the spirit of the age by expressing the confusion of values that characterized the European inter-war and the post-war periods. L'etranger owes its critical acclaim and popular appeal both to the philosophical message it carries as well as to its artistic qualities seen in terms of innovations in narrative language and the enigmatic presentation of the personality of the main character, Meursault. Since the publication of this novel in 1942 Meursault has continued to seduce and repulse, both of these sentiments arising mostly for wrong reasons. This article critically examines Meursault and shows that the continued interest in him, and the mixed reactions he generates stem from two possible readings offered by the novel: the hero as a fictional character in a literary creation, or the hero as a simple illustration of a philosophical view point.


Humanities Review Journal Vol.4 2004:1-10