Existentialism is perhaps one of the world’s oldest philosophies. It has been dated back to nineteenth-century Danish and Greek philosophers. It is a simple idea, yet it has so many different ideals within it that it is almost impossible to define. There are many parts that make up one whole, basic idea. The many parts have been defined by famous existentialist artists and writers such as, Nietzsche, Chamfort, Sartre, and Kafka. These works have all proven many points about existentialism; however, even the pros cannot decide on one basic idea. That is why there are so many different interpretations of this famous ideal. If there were a single definition it would have something to do with having your own ideas and being free to choose any path.
If you were a believer in existentialistic ideals chances are you would not participate in society and/or your own life very much. Albert Camus believed that to be a true existentialist you had to remove yourself from society as much as possible since a belief in the foundation of government was to conform. Conforming to society norms is considered bad, it doesn’t allow the individual to progress and reach his own decisions Camus realized, however, that restricting himself from all social conformity was impossible. In his award-winning book, The Stranger, Camus depicts a man with very little emotion. Once in a while he shows a bit of heart, but for the most part, he is gives a robotic appearance. This character is based on existentialistic views, he tries to stay out of society as much as he can. He does the same thing from day to day. The character expresses no feeling about anything except that light is a sign of evil or annoyance, while the dark becomes a place of calm and seriousness. In society, the common idea is that light is good and evil grows in the darkest of places, but in Albert Camus’ novel, evil is good and the light is bad. They’re many other parts of existentialism. Camus influenced many of the writings on this subject although he did not stand unchallenged.
Many existentialists believed that man had no reason for life. In other words, there was no God and no reason to live life with rules of any kind because there is nothing in the end anyway. This thought did not gain the existentialist popularity with many religions. Many people got excommunicated from their homelands just for stating their views on the subject.
Strangely, however, most of these writers had poor childhood’s. They suffered the loss of a parent and sometimes sickness. They were not strangers to heartache and hard times may have influenced their choice of philosophies. This is not to say, however, that if they came from a happy home they would not have written what they did. It is to justify the negative attitude of existentialism as a whole. This idea shakes the framework of all society by stating that man has no reason for living and in turn should not care about morals and values. Almost any existentialist would believe in a statement heralding the advancement of the individual. The existentialists believe that every man must decide for himself the way he should act and should not be bound by other rules. These beliefs define the framework of existentialism. Though philosophical in many ways, believers’ curiosity has lead to some of the world’s most renown works of literature.
To existentialists our world is a universe in which independence, freedom, and choice all play a major role. This further explains the principle that Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.
The Stranger, by Albert Camus reflects this philosophy in many ways.
Mr. Meursault the main character seems to live in his own world, socializing with others, but apathetic about what happens in his life. For example, when his mother died, his thoughts were, “Mother died today. Or, maybe yesterday; I can’t be sure.”
He did not have any extreme feelings about her death; he just accepted it and decided that is was destined to happen. He kept himself busy by indulging himself in materialistic comforts like smoking, drinking, and sex.
When his girlfriend, Marie wanted him to marry her, he said he would. He explains: “Marie came that evening and asked me if I’d marry her. I said I didn’t mind; if she was keen on it, we’d get married.” (52) He didn\t seem to care one-way or the other. His life was full of existentialism, for he believed that life just happened, nothing you could do would change the future, and that everything happened for a reason.
At the end of the story when Meursault is going to be executed, he pondered his fate. He refused to see the priest before his execution because he felt that he had done nothing wrong when he shot an innocent Arab not once, but five times. He seemed to extricate pleasure from the thought of everyone shouting at him with all the bitterness and hate that had built up inside of them. At the same time, he didn’t seem to worry too much that he was going to be punished by death.