The subject of absurdism used by Franz Kafka and Albert Camus does full justness to convey out the poignancy in both ‘The Outsider ‘ and ‘The Metamorphosis ‘ by Albert Camus and Franz Kafka. They set up the unsettling being of the both the supporters. The present state of affairs of the storytellers brings to life incidents that justify their unpleasant state of affairss and what they are traveling through in their several lives. Where existential philosophy inquiries adult male ‘s being in a peculiar societal system ; ‘absurdist ‘ investigates characters that are placed in society that is barren of God and how syllogism and lampoon loom big over the full state of affairs. Hence The Outsider and Metamorphosiss have existential philosophy and absurdism as the philosophical tools that take these narratives in front.
Camus concretizes an absurdly dramatic narrative of a adult male who has no emotions in him obviously in the gap lines “ Mother died today. Or possibly yesterday, I do n’t cognize. I had a wire from the place: ‘Mother passed off. Funeral tomorrow. Yours unfeignedly. ‘ That does n’t intend anything. It may hold been yesterday ” . He- does non even experience obliged to warrant his ground behind such odd and discourteous avoiding of any emotional engagement. Talking briefly with the manager of the place, Mersault tells him that he did non experience any guilt at holding sent his female parent off. He even declines an invitation to see the organic structure, but keeps vigil with it overnight, in conformity with the usage. When asked by the mortician how old his female parent was, he replies ‘Fairly ‘ , for in truth he does n’t cognize her exact age. His traveling for a swim with a adult female of his familiarity at an inopportune clip proves one time once more futility of his life.
As an incarnation of absurdism, Mersault does n’t see any demand to carry through or chase away the uncomfortableness from the heads of the people as his nature was really piquing to other people. He seemed wholly cold, and ne’er believed it was of import to populate up to the outlooks of others and follow etiquette. Harmonizing to me, every human being goes through the sort of unpleasant and awkward state of affairss Mersault and Gregor face but it chiefly depends on how a author decides to detail and chalk out these characters.
There is a funeral emanation, in the heat of the twenty-four hours, across the parched, sun-drenched landscape, and one time once more, Mersault is disturbed by the visible radiation, the Sun, and the heat, and feels unable to concentrate. This eldritch consequence to the point of blinding one ‘s vision evinces indefensible uncomfortableness Mersault exudes towards the society.
The Outsider is set in Algiers, where our supporter Mersault, who was a unmarried man, is taking a life that inquiries his being. He does non demo any involvement in his occupation and does non believe in socialising with other people around him. As the narrative goes in front, the reader gets to see the oddity of Mersault towards the universe with conflicting emotions that make him perpetrate a deathly offense. This pronounced nature of Mersault is brought out in the narrative in many incidents in the book ; one of them being in chapter four where he is non at all concerned about Raymond tormenting his married woman. He responds affair of factly ” At approximately 3 in the forenoon there was a knock on my door and Raymond came in. I did n’t acquire up. I sat at the border of my bed. He did n’t state anything for a minute and I asked him how it had gone. He told me that he had done what he wanted to make but she ‘d slapped him and so he ‘d crush her up. I ‘d seen the remainder. I told him I thought that this clip she ‘d truly been punished and he ought to be pleased ” . Mersault ‘s brusk attitude towards other people around him reckons him as an castaway.
I feel that the author ‘s philosophical stance is alone, as he puts huge accent on the belief of “ absurdism ” and we need to understand what absurdism is? Absurdist fiction is the manifestation of certain beliefs that dominated the plants of a figure of dramatists during the center of the nineteenth century. This signifier of fiction implies that in a universe that is barren of God, the being of human being shall hold no strong foundation, it would be meaningless. The absurd elements in such dramas and fiction were the fact that adult male has been thrust into a universe where he can non last on his ain inherent aptitudes but is maneuvered by a force unseeable to him. He is caught up in self-contradictory state of affairss and finds no respite by pass oning or logical action. His actions and duologues turn out to be a jeer of his ain being.
The best portion about the narration is that it does non prophesy with a message but at the same clip does be given to inquire us some of import inquiries about worlds and their societal being. The narrative is unbroken simple but is compelling however. Therefore, the work is a contemplation of Camus ‘s moral maxim.
Like Camus, Kafka excessively was existentialist and adapted to an absurdist manner in transporting the narration of his narratives in front as hints of his manner are apparent in his missive to Max Brod.
In Franz Kafka ‘s The Metamorphosis, the absurdist and existentialist elements form the chief parts of Kafka ‘s narrative. The narrative begins with the line “ When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one forenoon ; he found that he had been transformed in his bed into an tremendous bug. ” After recognizing that his life would ne’er be the same once more Gregor starts recognizing certain truths about his being which had non come to his realisation earlier. He starts to reflect on his ain being. Till the twenty-four hours before he had been a hardworking salesman who looked after his household but now he can non go on the same life any longer. Now after Gregor ‘s transmutation his parents and sister realize that they shall now hold to look after Gregor and get down doing a life of their ain. This leads Gregor into a province of depression which he can merely detect but can non make anything about it. His household is robbed of felicity and normality and though they are seeking their best to get by with it, their disparity is clearly apparent in these lines of the 2nd chapter- “ Now his sister working with her female parent had to make the cookery excessively ; of class that did non do her much problem since they barely ate anything. Gregor was ever hearing one of them pleading in vain with one of the others to eat and acquiring no reply except “ thanks, I ‘ve had sufficiency or something similar ‘ . They all knew the unpleasantness they had to face but none of them had an reply to it.
I think that both the narratives are existentialist and absurd in their narrations, and they both create a long permanent impact on readers and make a serious sense of argument about human being and the credence of societal regulations. The Outsider is a good juxtaposed prose of absurdism and existential philosophy. Mersault is a societal castaway and his farther actions merely make him an object of ridicule in his ain society. One can non see any sort of salvation for Mersault in his quandary ; he is doomed and destined for a fatal terminal. The parts of the narrative where Mersault is wallowing in self uncertainty are existentialist in subject and the parts where he is unsuccessfully seeking to happen out the replies that can legalize his actions are absurdist. Kafka ‘s Metamorphoses sees Gregor traveling through an merger of emotional, physical and mental quandary. His physical transmutation into a varmint is the chief perpetrator. This transmutation creates an emotional and mental mayhem in him. It can be said about Gregor that he has the replies but is in hunt of the inquiries. So, the Metamorphoses begins in an existentialist manner but ends with an absurdist secret plan.
