"Death" and the Protagonists views on "Death" in "The Outsider" and "Perfume".

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Charles Blythe                     English World Literature Essay                                3/3/04

 Essay Part 1 “The Outsider” Only

“Death” and the Protagonists views on “Death”

in “The Outsider” and “Perfume”

    In The Outsider by Albert Camus, death is a main feature especially with imagery. There are six different deaths referred to in the novel, although three are clearly represented and immediately affect Meursault. They are, the murder of the Arab, the death of Meursault’s mother, and finally in the second part of the novel, the death sentence given too Meursault. Using these examples, Camus clearly shows how changeable peoples views and behaviour towards death, and the uncertainty of the reasons for peoples actions and there responses to there actions afterwards.

    Death enters the novel immediately in the first sentence “Mother died today.” This is a short and direct statement which forces the reader to think, and although it is so direct and firm, the following sentence is far more confused, “Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” This confusion clearly interprets Meursaults views on the death as being insignificant to his life, and  spreads through to other details surrounding the death of Mrs Meursault, such as the cause, and her precise age, not a vague estimate, “About sixty”.

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    Meursault’s relationship with mother must have been distant, as there was no show of any kind of emotion during the funeral or the time surrounding. This would be hard to accept in our society as it would be deemed normal to be upset or show signs of emotion after hearing of any death let alone a family member. ‘I’m very fond of white coffee, so I accepted and he came back a few minutes later with a tray. I drank. I then wanted a cigarette.’ The fact that Meursault then drank coffee and smoked, whilst with his ...

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