ABSURDITY AND ITS ELEMENTS IN THE STRANGER

An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or

not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe
an absurdity, It derives from the Latin absurdum meaning "out of tune”, hence
irrational. The Latin surdus means "deaf", implying stupidity. Absurdity is contrasted
with seriousness in reasoning In general usage; absurdity may be synonymous
with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related to
extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to
extremes of incongruous juxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related
to a lack of meaningfulness. Absurdism is a concept in philosophy related to the
notion of absurdity.

After dropping out of the university, Camus eventually entered the world of
political journalism. While working for an anti-colonialist newspaper, he wrote
extensively about poverty in Algeria. From 1935 to 1938, Camus ran the ‘Theatre de
I’Equipe’ an organization that attempted to attract working-class audiences to
performances of great dramatic works. During World War 11, Camus went to Paris
and became a leading writer for the anti-German resistance movement. He was also
the editor of Combat, an important underground newspaper.

While is wartime Paris, Camus developed his philosophy of the absurd. A

major component of this philosophy was Camus’s assertion that life has no rational or
redeeming meaning. The experience of World War 11 led many other intellectuals to
similar conclusions. Faces with the horrors of the Hitler’s Nazi regime and the
unprecedented slaughter of the War, many cold no longer accept that human existence
had many purpose or discernible meaning. Existence seemed simply, to use Camus’s
term, absurd.

Samuel Becket is a famous writer who also introduced the concept of absurdity,
nothingness, nihilism and meaninglessness of life. He represented the absurdity in the