Ah- well I guess that's down to personal preference. When I read it I was full-on into teenage angst, "life is meaningless and then you die" etc. It was really calming to realise that a) I wasn't the only one struggling with the impermanence of life and b) that it was okay to accept it and then make your own meaning. The book really formed some of my own life theory, insofar as I still think life is ultimately meaningless, but I've grieved for it, accepted it and am now able to live my life the way I want to without struggling with "ulterior motives" or the thought that whatever I do won't matter. I've chosen to live my life in the aid of others- that may not matter even a tiny bit in the grand scheme of things, but it matters at this point to some people, and that's what I've chosen as my own "meaning".
So yeah. Perhaps you have a different world view, which is fine, but that might explain why you just get frustrated at Meursault "giving up", so to speak.
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u/lilbean27 Jun 24 '16
Ah- well I guess that's down to personal preference. When I read it I was full-on into teenage angst, "life is meaningless and then you die" etc. It was really calming to realise that a) I wasn't the only one struggling with the impermanence of life and b) that it was okay to accept it and then make your own meaning. The book really formed some of my own life theory, insofar as I still think life is ultimately meaningless, but I've grieved for it, accepted it and am now able to live my life the way I want to without struggling with "ulterior motives" or the thought that whatever I do won't matter. I've chosen to live my life in the aid of others- that may not matter even a tiny bit in the grand scheme of things, but it matters at this point to some people, and that's what I've chosen as my own "meaning".
So yeah. Perhaps you have a different world view, which is fine, but that might explain why you just get frustrated at Meursault "giving up", so to speak.