In The Stranger by Albert Camus, fate plays
a limited role. The only fate that
Meursault believes is guaranteed is death.
He is disinterested in any idea of a god guiding his life and choosing a
fate for him. Meursault even questions
why other people believe that a god chooses their fate, when they are all “elected
by the same fate.” Camus characterizes
this “fate” of only death as a “dark wind that had been rising toward [him]
from somewhere deep in [his] future.” That
fate “leveled whatever was offered” in his life, which means that the choices
in his life were taken away by the single fate of death.
Throughout,
Meursault seems to exercise free will, rather than be bound by a destiny that a
higher being chose throughout his life.
He compares the “gentle indifference” of the world to his own
indifference. Meursault concludes that
life has no meaning, and therefore nothing matters, so he does as he
pleases. As other people are bound by
some type of morality, Meursault is not; he uses his freedom to kill the Arab at
the beach. At that moment, he loses
control of himself, although no higher being is controlling him. He chooses to not grieve over his mother’s
death, which feels unnatural to other people who are bound to some type of
morality. Although Meursault may not be
considered an immoral person, he does not have the feelings or emotions that
would stop him from committing the crime that he has committed; therefore, he
uses only his free will.
Although
it was Meursault’s free will that led him to not particularly care about his
mother’s death and kill a man, other people did have control over the
circumstances of his fate. According to
Meursault, again, the only fate is death.
Because he killed a man, he is sentenced to death. The court chose to bring his fate sooner,
because they rejected his request to appeal.
According to Meursault, they did not decide his fate; his death was
inevitable and would have happened sooner or later.
Hi, Jessie,
ReplyDeleteFate and free will are interesting issues in this book. While it doesn't appear that there is any such thing as fate, since our main character doesn't believe in any power that could direct such a thing, he does make reference to a life that appears to be spelled out in a certain meaningless way, and he acts as if he can't really direct or change his own fate (as when he rejects the offer to move to Paris). Does a complete lack of meaning in life imply a complete freedom? That's generally what you will hear from existentialists. But Merseault seems to be held back by something...though I would be hesitant to call it fate. Perhaps it is only, as you said, death, which is everyone's fate after all. Thanks for the good thoughts.
The idea that death is the only fate is an interesting one. It's a nice thought that we have free will throughout our lives and that only the end of our lives is determined. I wonder since Meursault does not believe in a higher being, then what force does determine the end of our lives? Obviously everything does not come down to religion, especially in his mind, but then what would determine the fate of the end of our lives? Maybe that assists him in his ability to exercise free will so much. He can do whatever he wants because his death is predetermined, so that gives him a lot of freedom in the end. But because he killed a man and was sentenced to death, did he even determine his own fate with death? Death is inevitable, but the way it comes about may not be. But sooner or later it happens to everyone, so people must exercise free will while they can I suppose. Interesting ideas.
ReplyDeleteI was most intrigued about the piece of your blog dealing with the aspect of how those without morals have more free will.In America we cherish our free will as one of the most important aspect of our humanity; however, you bring up a very interesting point that morals limit our free will. This creates one of those oddly paradoxical situations because if we believe that what distinguishes humans from animals is their ability to control themselves, but then we say that free will is also a distinguishing factor of humanity they contradict themselves.As far as fate goes, the concept that our only fate is our death is almost like saying we have no fate. It's saying that there truly is no fate. It's saying that you are free to do as you will until you die, which is often what we consider free will because in our society we have accepted death as inevitable; however, with recent medical advances this inevitable death may soon disappear.
ReplyDeleteI also am very interested with the idea that people with morals lack the free will Meursalt has. They believe that there is a higher being and therefore are succumbed to the fate of this higher being. Whereas, Meursalt doesn't follow or believe in any higher being, and he clearly practices free will. In my mind this means that Meursalt has the power to determine his fate, and so I wonder a few things. Do people want to determine their own fate or essentially follow the plan created for them? And how is this relationship created, that if we have a faith or belief in a higher being that we practice less free will, and just the opposite, that if we don't believe in a higher being we can practice free will? (If that makes sense) Meursalt definitely is right that his death was inevitable, and to me the people did not determine his fate, he did.
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