THE OUTSIDER, MARIE CARDONA , ALBERT CAMUS AND NACHIKETA OF KATHA UPANISHAD.
( Photo: Danish -French actress Anna Karina ( born 1949) as Marie Cardona in 1967 movie " The Stranger ' Or "Lo Straniero ". The movie was a cinematic version of novel "The Outsider" by Albert Camus.The other person in the picture is Marcello Mastroianni who played the role of Meursault, the protagonist of the novel. )
Albert Camus created a character known as Marie Cardona in his novel " The Outsider "
. Marie is the girlfriend of Meursault, the protagonist of the novel. Marie is a typist formerly at Meursault's office , where they first met. There are some clues about Marie’s personality in the novel. Very less in number but so vital in revealing her true nature . To me, she appears straightforward and simple . It appears that her expectations from life are not hyped or extraordinary . And then not much does she demand from others around. Her middle class upbringing convinces her that she ( a typist ) and Meursault ( a clerk ) could lead a happy life together .
The day after the funeral of Meursault’s mother , she meets him at the beach and continues to date him afterwards. Like Meursault, Marie delights in physical contact yet Marie’s physical affection implies a deeper sentimental and emotional attachment. For example, when Marie asks Meursault if he loves her, he replies “That sort of question has no meaning, really; but I suppose I didn’t” . Later in the novel, Marie asks Meursault if he would marry her, to which he responds that he does not care whether he marries her or any other woman. Though Marie is disappointed when Meursault expresses his indifference towards love and marriage, she does not end the relationship or rethink about her desire to marry him. She has a hope . A normal hope to lead a happy life with a man whom she loves. In fact, for Marie, Meursault’s strange behavior seems to be the essential part of his appeal and charm . She says explicitly says that she probably loves him because he is so peculiar and different from the crowd around him.
There could also be an element of pragmatism in Marie’s decision to marry Meursault. She enjoys a good deal of freedom within the relationship because he does not take any interest in her life when they are not together.
While reading the novel , sometimes I feel , as if, Meursault only cares about Marie’s physical appearance, not about her as a person. Does he lack requisite emotional connect with Marie ? Did he lack this vital emotional connect with his mother also ? Whatever be her motivations for entering into the relationship, Marie remains loyal to Meursault at all times and during all periods of their relationship. When he is arrested and put on trial, she does not end the relation. I quote from the novel their communication in specific when she visits Meursault in prison ;
'She shouted out again, 'You'll get out and we'll get married!' I answered, 'You think so?' but it was mainly just to say something'
She only drifts apart after she comes to know about the death sentence . The reason could be the death of her dream to live a happy life with a man whom she loved . And then she suddenly fades away and we no longer hear about the uncomplicated and simple girl. Where does she go at the end? A question that every reader wants to know .
Does the death of hope prevent Marie from reaching the understanding that Meursault attains at the end of the novel ? At the end of the novel, Meursault grasps "The benign indifference of the universe" while Marie does not . She finds value in dumping hope and simply moves away.If Camus made Meursault , the protagonist of his novel die for 'Truth ' and suffer, he gave Marie her share of suffering too. Some critics believe that Camus applied his Upanishadic knowledge to build behaviour patterns of his characters in this novel.For certain, the novel hovers around truth, freedom , absurdity of human existence and death. Many situations in the novel come close to the Upanishadic concept of ,'here and now', Atman ( self of a man) , knowledge ( Para and Apara of Mundaka Upanishad ), Satya ( Chandogya Upanishad ), doctrine of Karma( Kaushitaki Upanishad) unity and solidarity of the universe ( Isa and Brahadaranyaka Upanishad ) , Dharma ( Chandogya Upanishad ) , and the spirit of fundamental inquiry into issues of life and death ( Katha Upanishad ) . Using situations and characters, Camus brings his characters out from obscurity to confer immortality upon them.
It now widely believed that Camus had studied Bhagwad Gita and the Upanishads translated into French . The concept of Dharma or Nishkama Karma is evident in his novel 'The plague' at many places . At one place , the main character, a doctor, says this :-
“I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.”
As writer, Camus pursued four fundamental issues : The absurdity of human condition, the inevitability of death, the fundamental need of individual liberty , and a relentless search for happiness. The Katha Upanishad deals with all the four . The knowledge of this Upanishad made Camus's thinking totally different from the other writers of his age. I find Camus's "The Outsider" loudly echoing Katha Upanishad. Camus believed that life was absurd. Man has not to stop at this thought. His business is to generate happiness to overcome this absurdity. To overcome the absurdity, he choses struggle and struggle leads him to happiness. This is the message of Upanishads more specifically Katha Upanishad.
Is Camus the Nachiketa of Katha Upanishad who rebels against existing beliefs and traditions to seek answers to the questions troubling his mind. Camus's questioning is visible in his novels and essays . Nachiketa’s story begins with his bold questioning during his father’s sacrificial ceremony. Dissatisfied with his father’s answers, Nachiketa of Katha Upanishad seeks out Yama, the God of Death, to learn about the ultimate truths of life and death. And Katha Upanishad presents a profound dialogue between a young boy, Nachiketa, and Yama, the lord of death, exploring fundamental questions about life and death .
And Albert Camus succeeds in making Nachiketa alive in all of us with his books and essays especially through his novels ,"The Plague", " The Myth of Sisyphus" and " The Outsider ". Nachiketa, an embodiment of the seeker within us, always yearns to know the purpose of his life.
( Avtar Mota )

Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.