Well, although many people would attribute an existentialist nature to Camus' work, Camus himself disagreed. Quite what the difference between absurdism and existentialism is, is beyond me, but Camus made the distinction. I would say that Meursault wasn't aware of absurdism, but is merely a vessel through which Camus explores absurdism. That is, that we can come to one of two conclusions. a) There's a God/Religion, so life has purpose or b) There is no God/Religion, thus no purpose. Camus claims that God/Religion are human conceptions, created to lend meaning to existance. So we are then left with another two options. Suicide or pointless existance. This is explored in another of Camus' books "The Myth of Sisyphus" (Le Mythe de Sisyphe), in which he discusses the meaningless existance.
The Myth of Sisyphus tells the story of Sisyphus, a man condemned by the Gods to spend his lifetime pushing a rock up a hill only to let it roll down so that he can roll it back up the hill once more. Camus accepts that this appears on the surface to be quite a depressing outlook, but later concludes that we should imagine sysiphus a happy man. He has something to work towards. An ultimate goal.
I'm not sure that I completely understand all this stuff, in fact, I'm fairly sure that I don't as the concepts are quite difficult to comprehend. Perhaps you should use what I've said as an introduction to Camus and something to inspire further study. I have to study him anyway as a byproduct of my french coursework, but I'd still find it interesting non the less.
In effect, the only need for meursault to kill the man in the first place is so that later on meursault will be condemmed to death. This allows us to glimpse into his psyche and perceive that he would rather not die and actually quite enjoys life. He can be paralleled in this instance to Sysiphus as he walks down the hill. He's in a comtemplative mood, whereby he sees the effort and pain that is to come, but is able to relax at present and reflect on the life he's had so far.
Well, although many people would attribute an existentialist nature to Camus' work, Camus himself disagreed. Quite what the difference between absurdism and existentialism is, is beyond me, but Camus made the distinction. I would say that Meursault wasn't aware of absurdism, but is merely a vessel through which Camus explores absurdism. That is, that we can come to one of two conclusions. a) There's a God/Religion, so life has purpose or b) There is no God/Religion, thus no purpose. Camus claims that God/Religion are human conceptions, created to lend meaning to existance. So we are then left with another two options. Suicide or pointless existance. This is explored in another of Camus' books "The Myth of Sisyphus" (Le Mythe de Sisyphe), in which he discusses the meaningless existance.
The Myth of Sisyphus tells the story of Sisyphus, a man condemned by the Gods to spend his lifetime pushing a rock up a hill only to let it roll down so that he can roll it back up the hill once more. Camus accepts that this appears on the surface to be quite a depressing outlook, but later concludes that we should imagine sysiphus a happy man. He has something to work towards. An ultimate goal.
I'm not sure that I completely understand all this stuff, in fact, I'm fairly sure that I don't as the concepts are quite difficult to comprehend. Perhaps you should use what I've said as an introduction to Camus and something to inspire further study. I have to study him anyway as a byproduct of my french coursework, but I'd still find it interesting non the less.
In effect, the only need for meursault to kill the man in the first place is so that later on meursault will be condemmed to death. This allows us to glimpse into his psyche and perceive that he would rather not die and actually quite enjoys life. He can be paralleled in this instance to Sysiphus as he walks down the hill. He's in a comtemplative mood, whereby he sees the effort and pain that is to come, but is able to relax at present and reflect on the life he's had so far.
All is well.