Umm, taking a break from writing poetry here. I suppose everything deserves a change. You, whoever you are, and wish to take time to go through this blog, also deserve a change. The communists ignored this desire for difference in people, and thought of creating an equal society, that ofcourse couldn't self sustain. I ofcourse, realise that, that this desires for change exists in you :) . Ofcourse, the norm for presenting humility in writing would I suppose desire a complete skipping of the word "you" and thus expect no reader to be reading this. However, just as all things seem as futile to me as the the things that don't seem to be, I suppose these notions of humility can now be kept aside for now and maybe forever.
Albert Camus, presents what we would call as the complete absurd man in The Outsider, his first novel. Ofcourse, I do not realise the absurdity in his philosophy and hence how it came to be called as absurdism. Seems to me any set of completely rational and non self-contradictory ideas could never be called absurd, and let alone Camus's philosophy of life, which seems quite more potent than that of many others, atleast for the time being.
Monsieur Mersault, is shown as a very stoical man, very indifferent to changes, to relationships, ambitions that other persons perceive to be the norm for success, and rather taciturn and calm, and disinclined to engage in conversations. Seems very much like a man, who tends to live in the present and is disinterested in recounting the past or speculating the future. He is further shown to be honest, ingenuous and well, maybe brutally honest at times. However, what strikes me most, is how such a man can be perceived to be happy. I wonder if this novel even purports the view that the absurdist man is really happy, if ofcourse Monsieur Mersault is the perfect absurd man.
It seems very rational to me to believe that Mersault has an almost innate, and unconscious desire to self-destruct; a willingness to explore the beach, in the face of lurking danger, to help Raymond, who he knows would just about only mean trouble for himself. It seems really absurd, and for once, I am using this word in a more meaningful manner, to think that this man is quit essentially happy. Then again, it makes sense. His sense of exploration, that leads him out of his daily routine, an almost fearlessness in the face of danger, seems to be a result of definitely an indifference to humans relationships, to past and to the future and, possibly resulting in an indifference to life and death. It seems equally valid that such a man be extremely honest. For, an honest opinion is something people do not refrain from giving unless there are prejudiced notions working in the background dictating the response, unless ofcourse they are pathological liars, or enjoy an absurd disorientating convulsion when asked to reproduce a truth of much importance, in either case enough to call them pathological liars in the literal sense of the word.
Another key idea, that can be ruminated on, is the consciousness of Mersault's ego. It seems unimaginable that Mersault's actions do not have any bearing on his consciousness about his presence in the eyes of others. I suppose, to grow up into such a person would require a complete exile from the societal notions, or to be completely impervious to such ideals. However, since such a situation can only be found in a hypothetical environment, it remains that Mersault would have had to completely reject any notions of adhering to societal pressures from the very onset of his sentient life. However, there seems no proof that societal notions are not learnt by a child unconsciously, for then, I child would never learn to potty train, or well, anyway, that is just a rather silly example, but my point is made. So, the only option, is to slowly unlearn these notions when consciousness hits, which probably Mersault has achieved, and which requires a very conscious, concerted effort as it involves disregarding notions gathered almost unconsciously as a child. This hence means, that he cannot be completely be unaware of the effect his almost complete lack of emotion would mean to the people around him. Ofcourse, I haven't thought about it this way - he just may not really give a rat's ass as to what the people around him think of him, and hence doesn't care to follow the norms in a funeral or in the court of law. This would seem to be finally, a stable solution in a rather funky potential well, however this isn't. For, the ego of Mersault is well and truly revealed right at the end of the novel. Celeste becomes the good man suddenly, and others become half the man he is. This is the first time Mersault really judges a person, or persons. And it shows that he is suddenly ONLY JUST realising how people think of him. This however, seems to be an inexplicable inconsistency to me in the whole philosophy of Monsieur Mersault and his behaviour. It would mean, that the perfect absurdist man is hence, a completely whimsical notion.
Ofcourse, its also worth contemplating whether the sudden outburst of Mersault in jail, and his prescribing a complete indifference to all men and women and the whole world, could be a sudden impulsive thought, led to be formed under circumstances of hatred for all those around him. This ofcourse, questions whether the thought itself is well thought over. However, it is questionable whether a thought well thought over is more potent than a thought that is impulsively born, and further from a sudden exposition of one's ego, even if to oneself.
However, lets just consider absurdism on the very level of what it intends to mean. It envisions the man, no God, no truth. It advocates living in the present, and advocates indifference. It "advocates" happiness. Haha. It seems impossible to me, to find happiness being indifferent to people, and, however, deriving happiness in instantaneous pleasures obtained from people by engaging in various social acts, like sex. Well, let it be just sex. I suppose you can't really even get sex being completely indifferent to the woman you propose to get involved with in libidinous pursuits. I ofcourse leave it for my friends to point out that sex, could be, in theory, bought. Arbusrdism seems selfish to me, and practically unrealisable, in fact, just like Camus himself has wonderfully illustrated in The Outsider. Mersault is bound to be misunderstood, and be castigated.
What if, however, everyone was an ideal absurd man or woman ? Well, Conversations would be few. Minimally, yes, I suppose that is to be expected. There would be no "love" , not many relationships. Why I say this is because it seems pretty valid to me to infer that Mersault was almost forced into relationships by the sociable intents of those around him, rather than his pursuit of any relationship. It basically seems to lead to a society lacking in any sense of moral guidelines as well, because an indifference to everything, even life and death, gives one a sudden spontaniety, wings if you may say so, to obeying and acting upon whimsical, momentory, transistory thoughts and ideas and desires. You could say the that the philosophy is hedonistic to some extenet at the microscopic level of the individual and the locality of time, but is characterized more by the attitude of a self-abnegating ascetic on a macroscopic scale of a longer period of time. Can such a society without any ideals survive? No. So, what really is the ideal percentage of population that should turn absurdist to create a harmony between both these sects of the abrudists and those who aren't? :P
Camus relies on man developing love for doing just what he does. "Work is its own reward" , I suppose that is what Camus wishes for existentialists to incorporate in their angst incorporated lives. However, it seems to me, as questionable as the existence of God, whether man really desires to work passionately for any cause. It seems any sense of obligation to a cause evolves from an assimilation of desires and classically conditioning oneself to choose one on the basis of another classically conditioned megastructure of information that resides in the mind. Hence, nobody really knows if there exists a passion men innately, intrinsically possess, other than sex I suppose. Ofcourse, these questions may be irrelevant, and it may be true that some men do find their passion and the cause for their continuing existence in certain "jobs" they do. However, it seems more often that not, these passions, that keep up a man's spirits, allow him to keep living, are born in the form of the people around him. Ofcourse, the very few men who can find this happiness inside them, and their own thoughts, are, well, the truly great men.
