Position:Home>Books & Authors> What do you think about the ending of The Stranger by Albert Camus?
Question: What do you think about the ending of The Stranger by Albert Camus!?
I've read this book more times than I can count, and it's one of my all time favorites!. What I can't really get my head around though is the very end, where all Mersault hopes for the day of his execution is to have a crowd to witness it and cheer at him!. I can't understand his motivation for this!. My only theory is that he is leaving a society who's rules he has never followed, so he feels it's appropriate to go out in this way!.
I'm not really sure, but i'd like to hear what you think the ending is symbolic of!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The greatest thing about The Stranger is that it itself seems to give rise to the absurd in the reactions of its readers!. I've read it a few times-- it seems to come in and out of vogue pretty frequently--and I always hear that it's not this and it's not that, and you should read this, and you should read that!.
Anyway, it is what it is!. Camus is a man of one idea and he communicates it poetically!. The point of The Stranger's ending, for me, is a way of underlining (but not resolving) the cornerstone of Camus' philosophy: the absurd!. The problem he sees is the friction between man and a natural world that does not reflect man's dreams and desires!. (In her song about rain on your wedding day, this is what Alanis Morissette has hit upon, not irony!.) As Meursault sits in his cell awaiting execution, the atmosphere is not brooding, with a stereotypical storm on the horizon, but rather, breezes scented with the countryside come through the window!. The jeering of the crowd that Meursault imagines would make him less lonely is simply a desired reflection of his inner state, a connection with the world that is impossible for him (and hauntingly, maybe for us)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I've always found the ending to be thrilling and defiant, a great assertion of self-authenticity!. He hopes, not that they would cheer at him, but that his execution would be met with "cries of derision!." It's his crowning moment of truth: This is what I am!. Whether the reader "likes" the narrator or not is entirely beside the point!. In my humble opinion, the pages from the narrator's entry into prison to the end are the most powerful Camus ever wrote!.
Regarding a previous poster's comments, Kirkegaard is a 19th century philosopher, not an 18th century one!. This may sound like nit-picking, but there's literally a world of difference between the two!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I so despised Camus!.
Mersault is a sociopath!. Does he ever feel remorse for the life he took!? No!. He craves the attention for the deed without any recognition of the worth of life!.
I think it's sad, defeatist and nihilistic!. In all, a perfect example of the post-modern expression of existentialism, which I understand intellectually, but abhor personally!.
For a different take on existentialism, I suggest reading Soren Kierkegaard, an 18th century Danish philosopher and the true father of existential thought!.
ETA: So he wants "to make other people to be happy," but he thought things out "logically without emotion!." The argument there is inherently flawed!.
ETA: Shakespeare, you're right!. 19th c!. Got confused!. Sorry!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
He doesn't care about dying, but he hopes that it will make other people happy!. He doesn't care for his own happiness but he wants it to be an event not to be pointless!.
Yes, the guy was not very nice!. Boo hoo!. He thought things out logically without emotion!. Not everyone can be wonderful and lovely!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I feel that at the end he understood the real meaning of life and want people to applaud him for that!. Because they just go about their lives never realising what they have!.Www@QuestionHome@Com