What does it mean?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and philosopher wrote in his book The Sorrows of Young Werther that “The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.” This idea is reflected throughout The Stranger, novel by the controversial author Albert Camus. The main character within this book is not necessarily hiding from freedom because of fear, but mostly he shies away from it because of the existentialist belief that it will all be meaningless anyway. Even though the reason for the lack of freedom in Goethe’s phrase and in the novel is different, they have in common that they represent a monotonous reality which has no specific meaning. A reality which is completely fruitless; one in which consequences are not even considered, because they won’t mean anything anyway.

“I wrote the letter. I didn’t take much trouble over it, but I wanted to satisfy Raymond, as I’d no reason not to satisfy him.” (The Stranger, pg. 22)

For an existentialist, the only moment which carries any weight is the moment they are in. This is the reason why M. Mersault doesn’t give any specific thought to the idea of writing a letter for his friend, even if it may lead to trouble. As far as he is concerned, there is no reason not to do it right now, so he does it. Many would say that the mind of an existentialist is a simple place, given that there is no caution or particular hope to achieve anything. In many ways, this character created by Camus seems stoic or even selfish at times, in fact, in order to go through the book without coming to resent the character, one must understand that his actions are born, not from pomposity, but from not caring at all. The truth is, the mind of an existentialist is, to me, not a simple place at all. Mostly I believe that existentialism tends to be a method of self-preservation. If there is no meaning to life, then there is no reason to be disappointed by what it may bring, seeing as it won’t matter.

An existentialist existence must be a rather depressing way of life. Mainly because assuming that nothing matters means that all passion and feeling are sucked from life. This can be seen in the first four chapters of the story as it can be seen in the phrase above. Instead of asking themselves why life is worth it or why they should do something (in which case the answers would be: “because it matters”, “because I care”, or even “because I want to”) existentialists go through every day asking themselves why not do it. Why would it mean anything at all? In my opinion, being at either end is plain unhealthy. Always asking yourself why you should do something may lead to an over calculating person who doesn’t enjoy life, but always asking why not, may lead to someone who doesn’t appreciate it.

“It occurred to me that somehow I’d got through another Sunday, that Mother now was buried, and tomorrow I’d be going back to work as usual. Really, nothing in my life had changed.” (The Stranger, pg. 17)

This past phrase puts the whole existentialist movement into perspective. A perspective that actually makes one question the meaning of life as a whole. Mostly because it is the truth laid out in the rawest way possible.  What happens when someone close to you dies?

We’d all like to say that life changes, that suddenly we see something clearer or find a new meaning to it all. Really that never happens.

Sure, we may miss the person for a while. We will always have our moments in which we think back at how much they meant to us. But our world keeps turning. We keep going to school and work, we continue to follow the same schedule as before, we continue living in exactly the same way as we did when they were alive. So what is the meaning of life?

If nothing will really change when we are gone, if we will all be eventually forgotten, what is the point?

It is at this moment that I find myself at a crossroad.

See, I don’t believe there is a point at all. We live for a while, we have fun, and then we die. My life has no particular meaning in the world, and neither does anyone’s. Yet, I don’t think we should abandon all hope and passion because of this. After all, even if it is irrelevant in the end, I might as well enjoy the bit of irrelevance that has brought me here no?

My life may not have a meaning in the whole order of the universe, but it is important to me. And unlike an existentialist, I would quite like to do something with the bit of essence I was granted with. A walking body that doesn’t care about anything at all wouldn’t suit me, I think.