Topic > Mortality and the Meaning of Life in The Stranger and the Invisible Man

The search for purpose has been a notorious struggle for people throughout history. When embarking on the journey of personal enlightenment, many people face obstacles that hinder their ability to determine who they truly are. People may seemingly believe they have found their purpose, whether through career, family, or otherwise. However, many wish to dig deeper in hopes of discovering their authentic purpose, without the shadows of social expectations and common ideologies. In Albert Camus' novel The Stranger, the main character, Meursault, does not discover his identity until he comes face to face with his own mortality. Similarly, in Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, the Narrator struggles to understand his purpose because his sense of identity is clouded by the ideologies of others. Both stories are strikingly similar to the hardships of immigrants in America in the early 1900s; they had to figure out who they were in the midst of ostracism and confusion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Stranger teaches readers an important lesson: sometimes you need to accept mortality to determine your purpose in life. This is exactly what happens in Meursault. Goes through the motions of life, rather than really worrying about how things will turn out. For example, regarding Marie asking him if he loves her, he thinks, "I answered like last time, which meant nothing other than that I probably didn't love her" (Camus 41). This exemplifies how his relationships are not meaningful to him, resulting in detachment from the world. His romance with Marie has had little effect on his thoughts and feelings, which is unusual for someone in a committed relationship. It is clear throughout the novel that Meursault believes that solitude, along with a boring job, is his only purpose in life. However, before the day of his execution, he has a revelation; his goal is for others to learn from his mistakes (Camus 121-123). If one goes through life carelessly and without attachment, the search for self will never fully develop. In a more general sense, Meursault teaches the reader that finding purpose in one's life requires the knowledge that death is inevitable and that leaving any legacy, positive or negative, will be beneficial. This idea is similar to the Narrator's struggles in The Invisible Man, as both men need an enlightening experience to develop a true sense of identity. In Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, the Narrator feels invisible to the rest of society. Because he is a black man who grew up in a time of segregation and discrimination, others' opinions of him are clouded by the color of his skin. In fact, Dr. Bledsoe tells him, “You're nobody, son. You don't exist, can't you see? White people tell everyone what to think” (Ellison 141). This greatly affects his self-perception and makes him feel as if his fate is predetermined. He lets the judgments of others distort his sense of identity, which is a lesson readers can learn from. To find purpose, you need to look at yourself objectively, without prejudices or stereotypes that cloud what's really there. While the narrator is certainly burdened by the shackles of racism, his self-concept must not be damaged. His internal struggle, while certainly caused by external forces, is not permanent. This teaches the reader that the discriminatory ideologies of others should not get in the way of a person's pursuit of purpose. Like the Narrator, immigrants in the early 20th century struggled to. 2016.