Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Camus 2

"The others would all be condemned one day. And he would be condemned, too. What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he didn't cry at his mother's funeral? Salamano's dog was worth just as much as his wife. The little robot woman was just as guilty as the Parisian woman Masson marries, or as Marie, who wanted me to marry her. What did it matter that Raymong was as much as my friend as Celeste, who was worth a lot more than him? What did it matter that Marie not offered her lips to a new Meursault." 
Here, Meursault illustrates the lack of importance in life's trivilalities. However, life itself is mundane and trivial. So, anything and everything is pointless. In terms of condemnation, he sees all as having to pay for what they've done. No one is perfectly holy and mankind itself is doomed to condemnation. Yet, it doesn't matter- when life doesn't matter. He points out interesting perspectives when he sees that a dog could be just as valuable to someone as a wife. It is through these relationships and life's lack of meaning that Meursault shows how much "it doesn't matter." Who cares if Meursault will lose his girl, who cares if he likes Raymond, who cares about the guilty and non guilty, who cares about anything. When nothing matters, all is fair game. If the old man loves a dog more than a wife- who cares. If Meursault gets executed- who cares? Surely not him. To become this way you have to have a certain level of dissociation from life's wonders- although detached- Meursault chooses to be this way. If life is pointless- whats the point of even engaging reality. And through this he becomes alienated. But, we cannot forget that he feels, more than anything; he chooses to not feel-because, what's the point of feeling?

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