Rage Against the Machine

“He seemed so certain about everything, didn’t he?”

This is Meursault’s criticism of the world in which he lives. Society leaves no room for difference; it won’t support someone who doesn’t contribute in the way it sees fit. In my reading of Camus’ The Stranger, society is mechanical in its conception of acceptable behavior, certain of what is right and what is wrong. Moreover, society’s practices—both religious and secular—are so ritualized that they have become sacred. For this reason, Meursault’s departure from social norms not only alienates him, but also deems him the antichrist.

The predictability and certainty of Meursault’s society rely on the individual’s adherence to its norms, with the sacred components of this society’s smooth operation being human emotion and religious belief. Rejection of these pieces leads to an inevitable demise of society as we know it. Muersault doesn’t fit with this social model; he does not pretend to know what others are sure of. Because of his own uncertainty about the importance of expression and emotion, he becomes an antichrist—a nemesis of the sanctity of society. He declines society’s religion, saying that he doesn’t like Sundays, a holy day of rest, and rejecting the chaplain’s idea of an afterlife. During the trial, there is “a lot said about [him], maybe more about [him] than about [his] crime,” highlighting the disgust society feels toward his general lack of emotion. Because of his indifference, the judge even labels him “Monsieur Antichrist.” Meursaut’s rejection of social values are so sickening that he “threaten[s] to swallow up society” if he is not done away with. In society’s eyes, his differences do not make him a unique little snowflake; they instead make him a potential murderer of social values.

In my reading, I see the guillotine as representative of society. Like the guillotine that ultimately executes Meursault, society is mechanical in its practices, certain and unrelenting. Social norms are so influential that they can easily overpower anything that gets in the way of the execution of these social practices. In fact, it is imperative that society get rid of any non-likeminded citizens, just as the guillotine “destroyed everything” in its blade’s path. Meursault is amazed at how the machine “was so simple,” just as he is similarly amazed at the simplemindedness of the chaplain who refuses to believe Meursault’s atheism and secularity. The mechanistic nature of society is also seen during the trial, with the presence of a “robot woman” and the fact that “everything was happening without his participation.” Meurasult is not a part of this holy machine; he is in fact a potentially destructive outsider.

Meursault steps outside of sacred social norms with his indifference to emtion and religion, thus threatening to dismantle the machine that is society. He might halt it, alter its pace, and threaten its viability. Meursault—an antichrist figure—must therefore be severed from society, just as the guillotine severs his head.