Ideology in Albert Camus' Novel The Outsider
Finding Ideological Meaning in Camus' Anti-Hero Outsider Novel
Aug 19, 2009
Three way of working with a text may help to reveal its underlying ideology .
- Initially, the reader can remain within the parameters of the text, deciding what type of ideology contributes to its meaning;
- Secondly, the reader can move outside the work and consider the socio-historical forces which may shape the text;
- Thirdly, the reader can find significant omissions in the text – the choices that the author has made about what the text does not say are important. By observing the relationship of the text to these omissions we unfold a further ideological dimension to the work.
The Outsider – Considered Within the Parameters of the Text
The central ideology of The Outsider might be seen as the triumph of individual integrity against bourgeois hypocrisy and the state apparatus. Camus’ ‘hero’, Meursault, prefers death to self-betrayal.
The first person narration (ironically the taciturn Meursault) is without direction, possibly reflecting the character of Meursault himself. Arguably Meursault exhibits all the characteristics of a man on the verge of a breakdown. He appears to be suffering from a denial of his true situation.
At the height of this narrative Meursault shoots an Arab. Was the Arab merely in the wrong place at the wrong time? Meursault’s instability takes the form of an exaggerated rationalism of his situation, the objectivity of the universe confirming his ‘reality’.
Within the parameters of the text it might be decided that the state condemned a man to death for a murder committed when he was suffering severe psychotic illness. It was not Meursault’s responsibility to explain why he shot the Arab – it was his defence lawyer’s. In this sense an ‘innocent’ man was executed.
The Outsider – Considered by Going Beyond the Text
The voice of Camus speaks to the reader of issues beyond his hero’s immediate comprehension. Camus places Meursault in a class-economic relationship. He is a member of a white-collar workforce, unwittingly dependent for his livelihood on the colonialism of the French company he works for. Meursault, as a male member of the European Algerian working class cannot fully connect with his allotted role, unlike his friend, Raymond.
When Meursault shoots the Arab it is not untypical of an event that might occur on the fringes of criminal society in a colonised country. At a crucial point two cultures are exposed on a blindingly hot beach. For Meursault the Arab is the catalyst for his unresolved psychological problems. Arguably, there is inherent racism within the sub-consciousness of all white colonialists. Therefore, it is not inconceivable he should act as he does.
We might decide that Camus was showing how colonialism not only creates alienated victims from its repressed population but also alienates those whose lives benefit from colonialism in a meagre way.
The Outsider – Considering Omissions in the Text
Omissions might include the lack of a clear identity of the Arab and the harsh treatment of the Moorish girl, without explanation. Does this point to unconscious racist attitudes on Camus’ part, as has been suggested by some?
Given the novel is in the first-person and from Meursault’s socio-historical view, Meursault would not have known or wanted to know the Arab personally and would not have felt inclined to help the Moorish girl – his allegiance would have been with Raymond.
Meursault’s indifference might be the author’s way of foregrounding the racism in Algerian society and its inherent psychological sickness. At the same time, the blame is placed on the state for cold-bloodedly destroying what they themselves have created.
On the other hand, Camus had an ambiguous political stance on the French colonial issue and his personal circumstances at this time were not good.
The Outsider as a Complex Ideological Work
The Outsider works on many ideological levels and is an ideal vehicle for exploring the subtleties of ideology as a partial truth. The complexities of Camus as author are, like his ‘hero’ Meursault, the result of the accumulated experiences of war, imperialism, political choice and the mental traumas of modernity.
Sources:
- The Outsider by Albert Camus (Penguin Books Ltd 25 May 1983)
- 'The Text Says What It Does Not Say' by Peter Macherey (Open University Course A101 - Literature and Ideology Block 4)
- Albert Camus by P Thody (MacMillan, 1989)
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