Camus the Philosopher

When reading The Stranger, I sometimes find it hard to believe that Meursault is even human. The way he reacts to certain situations just seems to be unreal. Some people in my class have mentioned things like Meursault seems to be autistic in the way that his way with dealing with people is just off. But I think that if he were autistic, there would be some sort of indication that there is something going on beneath his surface; because autistic people are human too. Camus makes no effort to indicate that there is anything under Meursault's apathetic exterior. Whenever I read about him, I feel like he is just a hollow man with no emotion, no passion, no discrepancy (which I somewhat admire), and no deep intellectual thoughts. In fact, the deepest we have gotten so far in Meursault's mind is when he is in his cell and he remembers things (we don't even know what)! He only observes things on a surface level and is tempted by shallow needs. Meursault's whole manner is just wrong. Nothing matters to him.

After learning that Camus was a philosopher in his time, I could suddenly make some sense out of Meursault's character. This is because even though I don't quite understand Meursault, I understand philosophers and what they do. One thing philosophers do is they show people how to think. During this process, philosophers will metaphorically take everything you know, throw it on the ground, and stomp all over it. When a person's way of thinking is challenged as such, the natural reaction is to reject the new way of thinking. They may think something along the lines of "no, that can't be!", or "That's wrong!", or maybe even just the basic "No!". This is exactly the kind of reaction that Meursault generates among readers of The Stranger. Meursault is merely a literary vehicle for Camus' philosophy.

Now that it is obvious that Camus is trying to convey a philosophical message, the obvious question remains. What is the underlying philosophy that Camus is trying to convey? I believe that the philosophy Camus is trying to convey is a very atheistic one. The underlying message seems to be that life is meaningless and humans are so futile that nothing they can do can stop the meaningless cycle (maybe he would have thought a little differently a few years later if he wrote this after the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Camus even goes as far as to make Meursault shoot and kill a man for no good reason as he thought it didn't make a difference whether or not he pulled the trigger. I also believe that the underlying philosophy is atheistic because of Meursault's encounter with his lawyer, who I believe is Meursault's polar opposite. The lawyer is a passionate, opinionated, borderline hysterical Christian who believes there is some rhyme and reason to life. Their encounter shows how much their philosophies conflict with one another: 

"I was about to tell him he was wrong to dwell on it, because it really didn't matter. But he cut me off and urged me one last time, drawing himself up to his full height and asking me if I believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible; all men believed in God, even those who turn their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless."

On the other hand, instead of trying to make the reader believe this atheistic philosophy, Camus may be using Meursault as a litmus test for the philosophy. Meursault's experiences and thoughts may be Camus' way of saying that this is not what you should believe. But regardless of what Camus is trying to say, there is definitely some underlying message in the story.