Themes

Absurdity of Life:

‘Absurdity’ = ‘the quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment; a logical contradiction’

‘Absurd’ = ‘The condition or state in which humans exist in a meaningless, irrational universe wherein people’s lives have no purpose or meaning’

(Definitions from www.dictionary.com)

The definition is relevant because it reflects the situation that Meursault is in against the society. It is paradoxical how the society views Meursault as an ‘outsider’ and criticizes him for being indifferent because the truth is that Meursault is only being sincere to his feelings and unlike the rest, he accepts the irrationality of the society.

Regarding Meursault, this is the absurdity of life because the society does not understand his indifference that he challenges to pursue. It is absurd in the sense that we ostracize him from the society when he is being honest to his feelings. It is also absurd how the society immediately thinks of him as extraordinary not because of the crime that he committed, but mainly because of the way he acted after his mother's funeral. This is evident during the trial that decides upon the sentence of the incident, as first of all, the courtroom is astonished by the fact that Meursault had offered a cigarette to a caretaker and had recieved a cup of white coffee at the funeral. The jury claims, "A stranger may offer a cup of coffee, but that a son must refuse it beside the body of the one who brought him into the world," indicating that this behavior was unethical. Secondly, the jury pronounced that, "One the day after the death of his mother, this man was swimming in the sea, entering into an irregular liaison and laughing at a Fernandel film," as if this was almost an illegal thing to do after such an event as the funeral. Ever since, the entire courtroom viewed Meursault as the criminal not because of the actual murder, but because of his irregular behavior which lead him to a death sentence. 

Throughout the novel, Camus inserts the notion of ‘absurdity of life’ as he himself believed the universe was completely irrational and meaningless. He conveys this theme through the protagonist, which is emphasized due to the juxtaposition of the behaviors and reactions of the society as explained before. The society attempts to impose rational orders to everything in order to make life meaningful, which is exactly what the lawyer and the prosecutor did on the case for Meursault. Meursault had simply no rational reasons behind killing the Arab, or dating Marie, thus he had accepted the irrationality of the society. On the contrary, the society is scared of facing this truth so they tend to fabricate everything in order to make it 'rational'. 

In addition, towards the end of the novel Meursault seems happy and rather satisfied with the death sentence because he had accepted the absurdity of life. He realized that death is inevitable so whether he dies of old age or dies by execution, it does not matter to him because death is death and it is all the same. In fact, this was another philosophical idea that Camus had- that life has no meanings or purposes, but the only certain thing is that death is inevitable because all lives are equally meaningless. 

The Physical world

The novel emphasizes the importance of the physical world. The reader can notice that Meursault focuses more on the physical aspects than on the emotions. For example at the beginning of the novel Meursault observes the physical aspects of Marie, however when he is asked if he loves her he simply replies that he doesn’t think so. Here it can be noticed that Meursault gives more importance to the physical aspects than the emotional ones. As the reader isn’t used to this kind of behavior we perceive him as strange. This relates to the plot of the novel where Meursault is condemned for having a different character. It can be understood that the source of happiness for Meursault isn’t a balance in the emotional life but rather a balance in the physical world, as it is evident from the line “the perfect silence of this beach where I’d been happy’. 

In addition the reader can understand that the reason why Meursault shot the Arab was because of the sun tormenting him,“ the sky seemed to be...sheets of flame”. This shows how physical aspects affect Meursault greater than emotions. 

Overall if we look at the way in which Meursault describes physical aspects compared to the way in which he describes emotional aspects, it can be noticed that Meursault describes in great detail the physical apects whilst pays little attention to the emotional ones. 

Values of Society VS An Outsider

Noticeably, the character is ostracized against the values of the society. This is shown especially in the second part of the novel where we find the protagonist being judged for acts against the values of society rather than for the crime he actually committed.   “On the day after the death of his mother, this man was swimming in the sea”. In this example the main character is being judged for acting in an unconventional manner after his mother’s death, rather than for the actual crime he committed.  This relates to the title of this novel as its showing how anyone who acts against the conventional manners of society is deemed as an “Outsider” and will be treated differently.

Another example is when Meursault is asked to say that he regrets his crime, he refuses to do so although he is condemned to say yes. This shows how the main character is independent from society, as he does not behave in the way that he is expected to.

In this novel Camus tries to portray the absurdity of the society we live in and how we may behave in different manners just to fit the behavior which society deems "acceptable". 

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

THEMES

SURVIVAL:
FOOD
• Since survival is one of the most important issues of camp life, food is very special throughout the story.
• They cherish every bit of bread and meat.
• The men in the prison camp would trade, steal, or even kill for food.
• Shukhov thinks of meal times as sacred moments.
• Throughout using his spoon, he takes control of the meal, making it some way his own.
GOD
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn says he agrees with the biblical quotation, “Men do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” - men need bread to physically survive, but they also need a sustaining spiritual vision.


HUMAN CONDITIONS:
SUFFERING
• The book depicts a life of beating, food deprivation, and harsh weathers.
CRUELTY
• Volkovoi can make irrational demands (Eg. strip men in the freezing cold)
STRUGGLING FOR HUMAN DIGNITY
• No matter how horrible camp life is, their dignity has not been lost.
• Even though he starves, Shukhov still balks at eating fisheyes and men still clean the fish bones from their table as an act of politeness.
• Shukhov finds joy in a job well done.
• They share with those who have less.
• Alyoshka still prays.
• The living conditions are nearly intolerable: mattresses don’t have sheets, they only get 200g of bread per meal, guards force them to undress in the cold (-40°)
• Camp also degrades them spiritually by replacing their names with letters and numbers (Eg. Shukhov = Shcha-854)


THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN SOLIDARITY:
• A zek’s main enemy is another zek.
• The author depicts the way in which competition and conflict between prisoners can worsen a prisoner's life.
• A hierarchy that exists between prisoners who work inside and those who work outside the camp prisoners with power (cook, building foreman) abuse that power by taking from and/or punishing other prisoners.
• Prisoners turn against each other to survive.


FINDING FREEDOM:
• Authorities control the prisoners’ entire day.
• They’re not given any choice in what work he does and isn’t paid (but Shukhov takes pride in his work).


UNJUST PUNISHMENT:
• They get convicted of activities that don’t seem criminal to us (Gopchik took milk to freedom fighters hiding in the woods, Shukhov was captured by Germans and then was accused by the Russians of being a spy, and Tyurin was the son of a rich peasant father).
• Shukhov gets into trouble and is threatened with 3 days in the hole for being ill.
• Buynovsky receives 10 days in the hole for trying to bundle up against the cold with a flannel vest.
• The camp treats both as deep violations of the law, worthy of severe punishment.


FAITH:
• Alyoshka reveals that faith can be a means of survival in the camp.
• Shukhov’s interest in Alyoshka’s discussion of God, faith, and prayer marks Shukhov’s expansion beyond his usual thoughts of work, warmth, food, and sleep.
• Shukhov’s sense of inner peace in the last paragraph demonstrates that religious faith offers strength in the face of adversity.


MOTIFS

THE LACK OF PRIVACY
• The Soviet regime makes private events open to public in order to show their power over the individuals. This makes the inmates of the prison camps have no space to call their own, and every move they make is monitored. It is quoted that even walking to the latrine has become a public event, and cannot be made alone. The fact that the prisoners’ names have been replaced by numbers and letters indicate that they are not an individual, but rather symbols in a public system. However, the elimination of privacy is not totally successful, as the prisoners still have possessions. Examples of this are Shukhov’s spoon, Tzar’s package and Alyoshka’s notebook. In an environment where the state is trying to dehumanize the prisoners, each individual try to preserve their humanity by keeping their own private world.



THE COLD
• In this novel, “cold” is represented in different ways, which the prisoners of the camp have to face with. One is the physical manifestation of the coldness with which the leaders of the labor camp treat the prisoners. The other type is the extreme climate in which the prisoners have to work in, and get their body checked. Shukhov have to concentrate on avoiding the punishment, but at the same time, protect himself from the cold.
• The author continuously emphasizes the significance of the extreme weather , which suggests that Shukhov is not only a political prisoner in the labor camp but also a prisoner of nature as well. The combination of the hard camp life and the forbidding weather creates the sense that the whole universe is against Shukhov and his inmates, and that their lives are hindered by both humans and nature. This sense of oppression highlights the suffering of the human conditions, and the fact that they can not escape from the extreme conditions.


CAMARADERIE
• The labor camp is designed to discourage friendship and camaraderie, but many of the inmates form bonds which helps them survive through the difficulty. Even though the inmates come from different countries, social classes, educational backgrounds and are encouraged to spy on one another, they still create trust within each other.



SYMBOLS

THE SPOON:
• The spoon that Shukhov hides in his boot represents individuality. The spoon is not only useful, but it also makes him feel unique because it’s something the other prisoners don’t have.
• The spoon also represents the unjust system of the Gulags that stripped the prisoners of an identity and guiltlessly placed them into forced labor.
• A third representation the spoon makes is Shukhov’s way of surviving without the unrequited help of the guards.
• When Shukhov is cleaning the floor, the narrator makes a special note of the care he takes with his spoon as he removes his boots. “Though he’d made himself ready for the guardhouse in a hurry, he hadn’t forgotten his spoon”. He shows unification between him and the spoon, and protects his spoon just like he would himself because he feels it holds a part of him.



BREAD:
• Bread symbolizes physical and spiritual sustenance. Even though the physical sustenance that bread gives is more important to the prisoners, Alyoshka’s reference to ‘our daily bread’ in the Bible alludes to the spiritual food that bread offers.


TSEZAR’S PARCEL:
• The satisfactory food inside Tsezar’s parcel symbolizes the worldly pleasures in life, because in the camp, hunger controls the prisoners, forcing them to scrounge and beg since those are the only alternatives to starvation.
• The mysterious parcel Tsezar receives from the outside world makes the rest of the camp envy him. Apart from that, Tsezar also gets special privileges from the guards and officers in exchange for a share of his food.
• The name Tsezar is a Russian version of the name Caesar. Alyoshka urges Shukhov to look beyond his life, which is symbolized by Tsezar’s parcel; this is an allusion to the New Testament, where Jesus urged his disciples to “render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s,” – pointing out the difference between worldly riches and spiritual well-being.