##s Of CamusSiddhartha And Herman Hesses The Stranger

Camus’ Siddhartha and Herman Hesse’s The Stranger have recurring experiences of solitude. Whether it be physical or mental, solitude plays a major role in allowing each protagonist reach a point of enlightenment. Through solitude, each protagonist goes through rebirth, their lowest point, and awakening, revealing things about themselves in the process. Although the two protagonists reach enlightenment in the end, the two have very different outlooks, Meursault is a reserved person who goes with the flow while Siddhartha is the opposite. The two works show that no matter what the initial outlook on life is, points of solitude are key to reaching a point of enlightenment in the end. Siddhartha embarked on his own journey to reach his goal†¦show more content†¦The prosecutor often refers to Meursaults behavior at his mother’s funeral. Since Meursault showed no sign of remorse at her funeral, it was used against him repeatedly in the case that would determin e his fate. This court case put Meursault in such a difficult and lonely situation, â€Å"Everything was happening without my participation. My fate was being decided without anyone so much as asking my opinion...whatever interest you can get people to take in you doesn’t last long†(Camus 98). Prison is where Meursault begins and finds his enlightenment, he spends his time there mainly thinking about the life one can experience as a free man, in prison its where Meursaults real character shows in the entire book. Due to this, it feels like Meursault is reborn to the readers. Prison and the court case bring out a side to Meursault that was never really shown in the book, he begins to defend himself against all, â€Å"What did other people’s deaths...What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral†(Camus 121)? Both Siddhartha and Meursault go through solitude in different ways b ut end up revealing something about their character as if they are reborn, another step toward each of their enlightenments. Both Siddhartha and Meursault go through their lowest point, this experience brings them to some sort of awakening. Siddhartha’s lowest point is to the point where he wants