The Outsider; Symbolization

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The Outsider: Symbolization throughout the Novel Albert Camus’ novel, The Outsider, presents Mr. Meursault as the main character, who is seen as a harsh and a coldhearted character from people around him, for abandoning his old mother and sending her to an olds’ people house. Meursault later gets in trouble for killing an Arab during a fight. Albert Camus, the author of The Outsider uses the symbols the sun, the laughing and swimming, and the crucifix to reflect Meursault’s behavior throughout the events of the novel. The sun is usually a symbol of warmth, emotions and feelings; as it reflects the emotions of the characters in the novel, but Albert Camus used it as a hard object that Meursault cannot deal with. At his mother’s funeral, Meursault could not bare the harsh sun shining in the white room. He also mentions the sun every time he goes to a place; this shows how the sun frustrates him. “He sun was crashing down into the sea and the sand and the shattering into little pieces. (Camus56)” Although he was having fun at Masson’s house during his swim with Marie, he still mentions the sun "The sun was shining almost vertically onto the sand and the glare from the sea was unbearable. (Camus54)” While Meursault’s was having a long walk on his own, he said ” all this time there was just the sun and the silence. (Camus57)” Also when Raymond handed him the gun he said, “When Raymond handed me his gun, the sun glinted off it. (Camus57)” This quote shows how Meursault focuses with the sun during the harsh times. When Meursault was walking towards the Arab, he said “I was walking slowly towards the rocks and I could feel my forehead swelling up under the sun. The heat was pushing full against me as I tried to walk, and every time I felt the blast of its hot breath on my face, I set my teeth, closed my fists in my trouser pockets and tensed my whole body in

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