The Stranger

I completed “The Stranger” by Albert Camus a few days back. It was a refreshing read, but strange at the same time. Existentialism is such a deep and philosophical subject. It’s also a feeling that, I’m pretty sure, everybody experiences. Life can be quite stressful, so what would it be like to live life freely, as Monsieur Mersault did?

I also saw this movie called “Paterson” about a young bus driver who’s also a poet. You can draw parallels between the movie and “The Stranger”. Both the protagonists are “perfect observers” - they live their life in content, without worry, past remorse or doubts about the future. They are not easily affected by external forces. They have a very strong internal frame or you can say, mindset. In this mindset, they don’t have any big aspirations. They don’t have any complains. They interact freely with people not pressured in any way to please or to have their way.

Most importantly, they are very self-aware. They know how things make them feel, they are aware of their thoughts, emotions. You can also say they are dead from the inside. They seem lifeless, joyless individuals. They are figments of sombody’s imagination. They are existential caricatures.