Is evading chaos the same as order? Meursault in Albert Camus The Stranger, seems to think so. He avoids chaos in his life by living on the fringe of society. He circumvents confrontation by never supplying definite opinions, answering only with vague responses such as “really it was all the same to me” (pg 41). While it at first appears that Meursault experiences no significant turbulence in his life, this is later disproved when he shoots a man not once, but five times. Meursault finds himself faced with unforeseen disorder as he realizes that murdering the man was like “knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (pg 59).

Meursault experiences not only external turbulence by going to jail, but internally as well. It is suspected by several of the characters in The Stranger that the trigger for Meursault’s loss of control is his mother’s death. This disturbance in his life may have been enough to tip a man separated from his emotions to a state of emotional awareness. While it is arguable that Meursault coming in touch with his emotions restores order in his life, it also seems to push him in a negative direction, as his anger subconsciously urges him to shoot a man, resulting in chaos for the typically apathetic man.

When Meursault’s orderly life free from confrontation shatters, he attempts to restore control to his life. However, with his freedom barred from him, the only thing he has control over is his mental state, and his awareness of his unyielding fate. He suppresses any emotions of discomfort he feels at his predicament, quoting faithfully to himself “after a while you could get used to anything” (pg 77). This blaise acceptance of his impending execution allows him to restore internal order to his life, while external disturbances continue to ruin his previous life.

Depressingly, Meursault only achieves order in his life by accepting his death. By numbly greeting his imminent demise, Meursault finds peace in his finality. His indifferent acceptance of the chaos in his life and his execution allows Meursault to face his end calmly. Meursault strives for order in his life by originally avoiding chaos, and later by compliance with the disorder in his life. Do his tactics really create control in his life; or is acceptance of chaos really just the defeat of order in one’s life?

The Quest For Order Results in Chaos

Chaos breeds chaos. Attempts to emerge from society’s mayhem and internal struggles seem to land a person in the midst of a new level of destruction. For Rodya, a young man toying with the idea that murder may be acceptable, trudges through life disgusted by society and his doubts of his adequacy. It is the chaos in the world that convinces Rodya to find his own form of order. To him, order is established by the extraordinary of the world: the ones who can commit crimes and get away with them. He battles and doubts himself, wrestling with his own inadequacy. The inner tumult he struggles with and the displeasing state of society push him over the edge, leading him to murder two women. His attempt to create order simply landed him in more chaos. It was not until he embraced discomfort that he was able to find peace.

Dostoevsky argues that redemption requires suffering. Only through the pain and humiliation of acknowledging his own ordinariness is Rodya able to walk the path of redemption. Rodya’s attempts to rid himself of his concerns of his ineptitude result in even more confusion and disorder in his life. However, he finally achieves the peace and order he desired, battling through his deluded theory of the right to kill, and accepting the humiliating fact that he is ordinary. His acceptance of his original confusion, and the chaos which slowly robbed him of his soul, permit him to be resurrected and unexpectedly find order at the end of a conflicted journey.

A common theme emerging in this blog is the disruption caused when a person seeks peace or normalcy in their life. Does pursuing order always result in chaos? And is the existence of chaos necessary to struggle through in order to obtain order?