FREE ESSAY ON THE OUTSIDER

THE OUTSIDER

The opening lines of the novel, The Outsider by Albert Camus, set the tone for the book:
Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know (pg. 9), it is a dreary and
depressing sentence, so are the thoughts of a character by the name of Meursault.
However, the circumstances that took place, plunged him into a spiral of events.
Strangely, his thoughts stayed the same, yet his life changed dramatically. Conversely,
the story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, is seemingly contrary to the
novel The Outsider. In the beginning of the story, Lieutenant Burg was saying to the
Commander, We can't make it, sir. It's spoiling for a hurricane? The Commander's brave
reply was, e're going through! (pg. 73) The story promised excitement, fast pace
and interesting events full of heroism. There was one small detail; it was a daydream of
Walter Mitty whose life was lonely and discouraging. It was his way of dealing with the
reality of his miserable life. Even though these stories do not seem to be comparable, by
examining them a little closer, is revealed that the characters have many things in
common. Meursault and Mitty were trying to escape the realties of their lives; yet, they
came face to face with them because of the decisions they made throughout their lives,
which led them to their ultimate destruction.
Both characters wanted to shy away from society. They disassociated themselves from
everybody and interacted with others only when they needed something. Meursault was a
peculiar man who kept to himself. He never sought people, they always came to him. They
were there for his pleasure and amusement, only if it was suitable to him. How Meursault
felt, and the way he treated people, is clearly illustrated in his relationship with
Marie, who was his sexual object. When he did not have any more need for her services,
?There was nothing left to keep us together or to remind us of each other. Anyway, from
that point on, Marie's memory would have meant nothing to me. I wasn't interested in her
any more if she was dead. I found it quite normal? (pg. 110). Sometimes, being around
people annoyed him, because he could not understand their way of thinking. He showed
apathy towards his surroundings and the world around him. He wandered through life with
no emotions. Mitty, on the other hand, escaped from his hopeless situation, his nagging
wife, into a fantastic imaginary world he invented. He put all his energy, hopes and
fears into his dreams. He ran from his problems instead of facing them and invented this,
almost comical, private world so he could escape the real one. In one of his fantasies,
Dr. Mitty saved the life of a very important man. During the operation, two renowned
specialists could not save the man, so they turned to Dr. Mitty for help. If you wish, he
said phlegmatically (pg. 75). In every dream, Mitty was a hero, yet in reality he was a
coward. He never challenged his wife, or defended himself. Meursault and Mitty were
desperately trying to keep their singularity: Meursault by keeping a simple and
unemotional life, Mitty by escaping into his private world of heroic dreams.
As hard as Meursault and Mitty tried to run away from the reality of life, it was
inevitable to come face to face with the one thing they desperately tried to escape.
Meursault's beginning of the end came when he killed the Arab on the beach. He was put in
jail and was charged with premeditated murder. He could not escape the society any more.
At one time, the priest came to Meursault to tell him how he should behave in society.
Meursault did not want to compromise his way of thinking just to make society happy. The
harder the priest tried, the more annoyed Meursault became. Then, for some reason,
something exploded inside me (Pg. 115). He started to shout at the priest and grabbed him
by the collar of his cassock. The guards had to pull the priest out from the cell, and
after that incident Meursault felt calm and a wondrous peace?flooded into me (pg. 116).
Likewise, Mitty could not escape the reality of life. His wife was constantly nagging him
and always demanded something, which he usually forgot. e was always getting
something wrong?But she would remember it (pg. 76 - 77). At one point he got enough
courage to stand up against her, after a long string of lectures, and defended himself. I
was thinking, said Mitty, Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking? (pg.
80). Rebelliousness against his wife led to serious events. There was no escape for
Meursault and Mitty; they had to face whatever came their way; they had to face the
reality of the world that they lived in.
With every action, or lack of, Meursault and Mitty were pressing on to their inevitable
death. Meursault's came because he did not want to conform to society and was facing
death penalty by the guillotine. The events that led to his execution were his deep
beliefs - the obsession for the truth. This truth was a negative one; nevertheless it was
the truth that he was willing to die for. Meursault was condemned to death mostly of
showing lack of emotion, especially because he did not cry at his mother's funeral. There
is a question that arises. Is it that, In our society any man who doesn't cry at his
mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death (pg. 118, from Afterword)? In Mitty's
case he finally stood up and rebelled against his nagging wife, which led him in a
different direction in his daydream. Outburst towards his wife spun him into the bravest
act yet - he bravely stood in front of the firing squad. It appeared that none of his
dreams ever had closure, none that is, except the last one, Then with that faint,
fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless,
proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last (pg.81). Is it
possible that the dream of execution did not signify the death of Mitty, but in his real
world the death of slavery to his wife? Perhaps he realised that he had to fight not only
in his fantasies but also in his real world. Or, could it be that Mitty wanted to give
up, and because he was a coward in the real world, he committed suicide in his dream
instead real life? In both stories, all the events that led to final moment would enable
one to believe it was a suicide wish. Tragically, Meursault's death was the real
punishment and Mitty's, even though it was in his daydream, was real to him.