If Rodion Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment had a Russian (albeit dark) soul, Meursault, the main character in Camus' The Outsider seems to have a "Western" soul. After all, it is a "Western" aspiration for a man to be strong, quiet and not emotional. Women have been stereotyped in the West and I assume other cultures of having traits to the contrary.
One of the best novels ever written in the 20th century, The Outsider uses colonial Algeria as the setting for the set of events that lead to the murder of a local by a Frenchman. To fully understand what Camus wanted to convey in the book, the reader has to read the afterword. Meursault pays the price for being different, for not conforming to societal norms and for not behaving like the kind of robot that greater society churns out.
This book is more relevant in India today than it is in the West. Since western society has since moved on from its judgemental nature and developed an "I don't care" attitude that some fret is the other extreme.
I wouldn't do any justice to the great author and book if I didn't mention that his descriptions of Algeria at that time make me wish I lived there.
One of the best novels ever written in the 20th century, The Outsider uses colonial Algeria as the setting for the set of events that lead to the murder of a local by a Frenchman. To fully understand what Camus wanted to convey in the book, the reader has to read the afterword. Meursault pays the price for being different, for not conforming to societal norms and for not behaving like the kind of robot that greater society churns out.
This book is more relevant in India today than it is in the West. Since western society has since moved on from its judgemental nature and developed an "I don't care" attitude that some fret is the other extreme.
I wouldn't do any justice to the great author and book if I didn't mention that his descriptions of Algeria at that time make me wish I lived there.
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