The Stranger: A Criticism of Nazi-Germany and France
While reading The Stranger, I found many clear connections between Meursault and France throughout part one. One thing is that when his mother dies, Meursault doesn't cry or seem to care that much even though she should have been one of the closest people to him. Camus may be trying to tell the French people that they should be caring more about the Jews and other minorities that are being murdered instead of ignoring it and focusing on everything else except the War.
Another parallel would be that Meursault doesn't care about the cruelty being experienced by the dog or Raymond's, he doesn't really see anything wrong with it; similar to how Camus believes the people of France are not speaking up loud enough against Nazi-Germany. And Camus drives that home when he makes it so that Meursault is the one who writes the letter and hangs with Raymond so that Meursault--the one who represented a "neutral"/submitting France--becomes more guilty than Raymond. Almost as if to say that if France continues under Nazi-Germany, then it will eventually become more guilty than Nazi's themselves.
I would argue that the infamous murder scene is when Meursault goes from representing France
(Part I) to representing Nazi Germany (Part II).
In that scene, Meursault shot the Arab man because of the sun. It's an absurd reason to murder somebody and the murder doesn't help ease the heat of the sun, yet the way it is written by Camus (his use of violent verbs to describe the sun's rays), the reader can somewhat understand why Meursault murdered the Arab. But when trying to explain why he did it in court, Meursault receives the response that anybody would expect because his reason did not make logical sense. It the same way, Nazi's were killing innocent people in the masses yet they did not have any valid (rational) reason to do so. And they--like Meursault--have everybody else viewing them as monsters when many of the the Nazi's do not see it that way.
Camus also wanted to portray the heartless side of Nazi-Germany by reject the call(s) to God while in jail. HIs dead heart and lack of morale standards hows the way that Germany
What do you guys think?
Another parallel would be that Meursault doesn't care about the cruelty being experienced by the dog or Raymond's, he doesn't really see anything wrong with it; similar to how Camus believes the people of France are not speaking up loud enough against Nazi-Germany. And Camus drives that home when he makes it so that Meursault is the one who writes the letter and hangs with Raymond so that Meursault--the one who represented a "neutral"/submitting France--becomes more guilty than Raymond. Almost as if to say that if France continues under Nazi-Germany, then it will eventually become more guilty than Nazi's themselves.
I would argue that the infamous murder scene is when Meursault goes from representing France
(Part I) to representing Nazi Germany (Part II).
In that scene, Meursault shot the Arab man because of the sun. It's an absurd reason to murder somebody and the murder doesn't help ease the heat of the sun, yet the way it is written by Camus (his use of violent verbs to describe the sun's rays), the reader can somewhat understand why Meursault murdered the Arab. But when trying to explain why he did it in court, Meursault receives the response that anybody would expect because his reason did not make logical sense. It the same way, Nazi's were killing innocent people in the masses yet they did not have any valid (rational) reason to do so. And they--like Meursault--have everybody else viewing them as monsters when many of the the Nazi's do not see it that way.
Camus also wanted to portray the heartless side of Nazi-Germany by reject the call(s) to God while in jail. HIs dead heart and lack of morale standards hows the way that Germany
What do you guys think?
I definitely agree that there's a strong case for Meursault being an anthropomorphization of France during WW2. However, I think that he stays as a representative for France throughout the novel, particularly Vichy France, the part of France that collaborated with the Nazis. I believe that, since the murder was motivated not by an active hatred of Arabs but rather systematic dehumanization, the metaphor of Vichy France works a little better. But I'm definitely with you that there's a lot of evidence for The Stranger being interpreted as a criticism of French attitudes towards WW2 and Nazis.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Meursault's character is used as a criticism of Vichy and Nazi occupied France. Meursault definitely shows characteristics associated with the two regimes and the people under them who weren't a part of resistance efforts--he lacks empathy and collaborates almost mindlessly (even when the person he collaborates with is doing horrible things). I also like your point that both kill without reason and are despised for it, however I think Meursault is seen as a monster because of how he responded to his mother's death, rather than the fact that he killed someone (at least by the characters in the book).
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point. I agree that one could see The Stranger as a criticism of France and Nazi Germany during WWII. There is definitely something to it that a big point where Meursault went wrong was when he wrote the letter for Raymond, as at that point he no longer is neutral and has involved himself in the situation. I also see that once Meursault is all wrapped up in Raymond's fight with the Arabs, he can't escape and become neutral again. This also compares to France's involvement in the war under Nazi occupation.
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ReplyDeleteI never really thought about how Meursault’s mother could be a metaphor for minorities getting hurt by Nazi violence, but the more I consider it the more it makes sense. Meursault’s mother is quite weak and powerless – we see that her son was basically in charge of what happens to her life, since he was the one who chose to put her into the retirement facility. Similarly, minorities were weak and powerless against the government and society, who ended up deciding what happened to their lives. And like you said, Meursault doesn’t seem to care when his mother gets hurt, both when she dies, and when she is unhappy at the retirement facility, just like the French people looked the other way when minorities got hurt by Nazis.
ReplyDelete(sorry about the earlier deleted comment, I accidentally hit publish too early😬)
I think this is a very interesting idea with a lot of support! I think this also connects to the idea that in the end, being so passive was not good for Meursault and it led him into trouble and ended with him being executed. I think this is meant as a message to the French people about what would happen if they let themselves become guilty by being passive. It reminds me of that poem/thing about how if you don't stand up for other people then there will be no one to stand up for you when your time comes to be judged, that being passive often leads to yourself being hurt. I definitely see how this history and this book relate and your post presents it in a very interesting way!
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