Victims of Society in The Outsider and Antigone Essay -- Meursault Ant

Victims of Society in The Outsider and Antigone Both Meursault and Antigone are the protagonists in their stories. They have much in common, such as the fact that they explain their impending deaths as decided by fate, even though each seems to have an easy way of surviving. Both are willing to die for what they believe is right. The concept of fate is quite different between the texts. In Antigone, a Chorus tells you at the beginning of the play that Antigone will die. Antigone uses the excuse of fate to explain her own death to Creon, where as in The Outsider fate is much more subtle. First I will look at The Outsider and Meursault. Albert Camus wrote this novel as a challenge against the death penalty and the society that imposes it. It reflects his existential philosophy including how we do not trust people that are different, that society would rather hear lies then the truth if the truth makes them uncomfortable, and that people with different views to the majority are persecuted. Camus' choice of Meursault, an unusual person, who does not 'play the game', enables him to demonstrate this argument. Meursault's first words are 'Mother died today.' He is very quiet and detached and likes to observe events around him like a spectator, regardless of their importance to him. At his mother's funeral, he does not cry, he smokes and drinks coffee, and this turns out to be the reason for his execution. It may appear that the fact that Meursault is killed because of the way he acts at his mother's funeral is a sign of hubris, much like Creon's in Antigone, who does not respect Polynices' death properly. Camus shows us Meursault's philosophy is a hedonistic one; he acts like each day is his last. His bo... ...ne's destiny is argued by all the individual characters, each arguing only for the side that benefits themselves. The Chorus argues for fate to justify it's existence, Creon argues for it to justify his decision to have Antigone executed, Heamon argues against it because he wants Antigone to live on. These two stories rely on inevitability to draw attention away from the storyline, and bring the focus onto the issues they raise. Camus wished to persuade people that the death penalty was unjust and wrong, while Anouilh wanted to encourage a sense of rebellion among the people of occupied France during World War 2. In The Outsider and in Antigone both of the main characters believe that they are destined to die, becoming martyrs for their author's causes. Bibliography ============ Anouilh, Jean - Antigone, 1944 Camus, Albert - The Outsider, 1942