BEACH D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R FROM THE START
"I shook off the sweat and sun. I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I'd been happy."(pg.59)
Camus has painted a lucid picture of what Meursault's beach excursion will end up being. From the beginning of the chapter we learn that Meursault, Raymond and Marie spot a group of Arabs and among them is the angry brother of Raymond's ex-girlfriend, before they even commence their journey. When they arrive at the beach they cannot see the Arabs and proceed in meeting Raymond's friend Masson, and his wife. Masson automatically likes Meursault because of his simplicity. When the three men go for a walk on the beach they encounter the group of Arabs from earlier that day and become victims of an attack. During this time Meursault has gotten hold of a gun. After the attack Masson and Raymond must repair the wounds. When Meursault goes out onto the beach by himself again - with the gun- he ends up killing one of the Arabs. Camus adds this absurdity into his novel because this climax was unexpected. Although the events which occurred after the telegram Meursault received, telling of his mother's death, led up to him being on the beach, the shooting still came as a shock. Was Meursault trying to find some sort of order in this incoherent world? Camus has laid out this plot so strategically, yet there is no strategic reasoning for Meursault killing. We question it, as a reader, over and over again, however Camus knows that Meursault has no motive and this hooks the reader. The world is irrational and we all must realize that we will never make sense of it, not matter how hard we try. This is a chapter which let's Camus bring forth his own values later on in the novel, dealing with death and religion. This chapter provides as the climax of the story; to shoot, or not to shoot, that is the question. Or maybe it's 'To care, or not to care'
Camus has painted a lucid picture of what Meursault's beach excursion will end up being. From the beginning of the chapter we learn that Meursault, Raymond and Marie spot a group of Arabs and among them is the angry brother of Raymond's ex-girlfriend, before they even commence their journey. When they arrive at the beach they cannot see the Arabs and proceed in meeting Raymond's friend Masson, and his wife. Masson automatically likes Meursault because of his simplicity. When the three men go for a walk on the beach they encounter the group of Arabs from earlier that day and become victims of an attack. During this time Meursault has gotten hold of a gun. After the attack Masson and Raymond must repair the wounds. When Meursault goes out onto the beach by himself again - with the gun- he ends up killing one of the Arabs. Camus adds this absurdity into his novel because this climax was unexpected. Although the events which occurred after the telegram Meursault received, telling of his mother's death, led up to him being on the beach, the shooting still came as a shock. Was Meursault trying to find some sort of order in this incoherent world? Camus has laid out this plot so strategically, yet there is no strategic reasoning for Meursault killing. We question it, as a reader, over and over again, however Camus knows that Meursault has no motive and this hooks the reader. The world is irrational and we all must realize that we will never make sense of it, not matter how hard we try. This is a chapter which let's Camus bring forth his own values later on in the novel, dealing with death and religion. This chapter provides as the climax of the story; to shoot, or not to shoot, that is the question. Or maybe it's 'To care, or not to care'
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