“I got a telegram from the home: 'Maman deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything." (Camus, The Stranger, pg 3). It honestly does mean nothing, why should I care at all? I make no difference in this world, and they sure as hell did not either, so why should I care? We should learn not to care, or even try, as we are insignificant in this world this is shown through the lack of remembrance of our previous generations.
Why care or even try if in the end no one will remember you? I do not know any of my family members before my grandparents' generation so why should I be appreciative of them and remember them if I did not even know them? So if your own family members a few generations down the line will not care about you why should we try and care for them. Sure we may care for the longevity of our family but in the end will all die and nothing will matter.
Who is to say I will not die tomorrow? Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so if I died right now I will not have any future generations. Is all my effort put to waste as no one will remember me? Furthermore, being remembered is a luck-based thing. If you are not rich, a celebrity, or anything but the working class you are insignificant and will not be remembered. If I died right now I will be remembered by a few, but by the next generation no one will remember me. That is unless they find something that I worked on whether that be my YouTube Channel, my concerning writing pieces, or my even more concerning search history. With all that being said the odds of someone as insignificant as me being remembered is little to none as I am not anyone of certain significance.
How does this relate back to Camus? Meursault did not care at all, I would even go as far as to say that he had no priorities. This is proven when on the day after his mother's burial he was in a movie theater fondling breasts. Can I blame him? Not at all, but maybe not on the day after your mother’s burial. His mother’s death did not affect him as he did not care, he does not care to remember her as she was insignificant just like the majority of us including Meursault. Later on, Meursault goes on to state “I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything.” (Camus, The Stranger, pg 65). He does not truly know if he had any kind of emotion for his own mother showcasing the perfect example of what it means to not care. Even in jail Meursault’s thoughts are only on materialistic things, things of the flesh, “I was looking at her as she said it and I wanted to squeeze her shoulders through her dress.” (Camus, The Stranger, pg 75). Even in jail, he wanted physical contact with someone and here we can see his intrusive thoughts on wanting to feel physical contact with Marie.
What do these intrusive thoughts have to do with anything about existentialism? Meursault was so tied to his desire for a woman that it took over his mind and became a majority of what he could think of. Meursault could only think of things of the flesh and only had a desire for materialistic things, that was his own choice. “For example, I was tormented by my desire for a woman. It was only natural; I was young. I never thought specifically of Marie. But I thought some much about a woman, about women, about all the ones I had known, about the circumstances in which I had enjoyed them, that my cell would be filled with their faces and crowded with my desires.” (Camus, The Stranger, pg 77). The only thing Meursault cared about was his enjoyment in the current tense, meaning he did not care for the long term implications of his actions as seen by the reason he’s in jail. This is the way to live life. Live life enjoying what you do whether that be fondling breasts like Meursault or going for swims like Marie. As long as you enjoy what you are doing with your life that is all that matters. These are things of the flesh and they are a part of the seven cardinal sins, “[n]ow the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Galatians, 5:19-21). You must limit your enjoyment of life if you hope to inherit the kingdom of God. Religion is all a system of belief and faith. Let’s say that you wanted to break one of these cardinal sins who is going to stop you? Not me I’ll tell you that. The whole thing stopping you from doing what you desire is a system of faith and belief, if you don’t believe than there is nothing is stopping you from taking that action. That is the flaw in religion, if you don’t believe in it you can’t gain the benefits of it. Now I am not here to deter you away from religion as what power do I have over you to do that and what right do I have to do that? None at all and I do not care enough to try to change your opinion as both of our opinions are insignificant to the majority around us.
This relates closely with the question of what does it mean to live a good life? The only correct answer to that is is one that you and only you can look back on and feel fulfilled about. If you, on your way to what so over afterlife you believe in, can look back on your life and say “yeah, I did that” then you have lived a good life. Jean-Paul Sartre states that “[m]an is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.” (Sartre). The definition of living a good life is subjective, you are the only person to judge whether or not you lived a good life. If Meursault can look back on his life and be like “yeah, I fondled a ton of breasts in my lifetime” then he declared to himself that he lived a good life. The answer to most philosophical questions of the sort is subjective, your answer to the question is the only one that matters.
How does this relate a more modern form of media? This overall topic of exhistenialism reminds me of a character I was introduced to when I read David’s paper on Naoki Urasawa's Monster. The main character is named Johan Liebert and is a complete nihilist and went on to state that “[i]n this world, a life born is nothing more than an insignificant speck, and shouldn't even be counted as an existence.” (Urasawa, Monster, ep 49). Everyone is created and birthed in the same fashion so why do we, generally, celebrate childbirth as if it did not happen billions of times already? Who is to say that that baby will grow up and be someone significant? No one. Everyone in this world is insignificant as our small actions only affect us.
How does this relate back to life? Johan then goes on to state “[i]n this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing. So why live?” (Urasawa, Monster, ep 49). Why live? The definition of the meaning of life is subjective, it changes from person to person. For example, Meursault lived his life wanting to fondle breasts. Who am I to judge him? I am no one. What makes my definition of the meaning of life better than his? Nothing. What power do I have bestowed upon me to judge his life? None at all. If he feels fulfilled and happy by living his life in such a way let him be. We choose our definition of life and run with it and our definitions of life are insignificant as they only affect us in our personal lives. In Meursault’s example, the only people being affected are him and Marie, the lady whose breasts are being fondled, his actions do not affect the masses, therefore, he is insignificant and the same can be said for the rest of us as our actions do not affect the masses. This can go even further because there is not one single person whose actions affect every single person in existence, it is simply impossible, therefore even the non-working-class people, those who will be remembered by and currently do affect the masses, are insignificant to another group of people.
Nothing in this life matters so we should all stop caring and trying right now. I would make my conclusion longer but as I have previously stated I don’t care enough as it does not matter, only what you deem important is actually important. What Meursault deemed important was fondling breasts.
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