Who is ultimately Meursault, the outsider of Albert Camus? He is a dual hero, just like his world. He is intoxicated by the sun and the Mediterranean sea, and at the same time, he is faithful to the earth and things. He is an atheist, and yet "the only Christ we deserve." He is complete in his poverty and clear in his innocent naivety.
He is within-against-and-beyond the experienced absurd and nihilism. His practical philosophy lies in the gaps between Mediterranean flesh and pragmatic spirit, stretched between the joy of life and the anguish of life, balancing between the "wise Hindu" (and thus nature) and the "Western hero" (and thus history).
Meursault lives and breathes in an in-between space, "right on the hidden dividing line between shadow and light." His universe is immanent, with no trace of transcendence, a carnal and elemental universe, with a constant back-and-forth between embodied co-consciousness and embodied co-feelings (affects) in the here-and-now.
And at the same time, in the overall work of its creator, The Outsider/ Meursault is, according to Camus himself, "the zero point" on a difficult path "towards a sanctity of denial – a heroism without God – the pure man, ultimately."
