OHCHS Teacher “Loves” a Widely Hated Fictional Character by Chelsea Rugg

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS) teacher, Brewster Burns, teaches the book The Stranger by Albert Camus to sophomores and claims to “love” the controversial main character, Meursault. The character is an existentialist/absurdist and rejects religion and society; things that most people in society today embrace. Most students exposed to the book develop a deep hatred for Meursault, so why does Burns say he “loves” him? After teaching the book for 25 years, he has come to know the character extremely well. Burns says that Meursault “calls into question why do we care about the things we care about, and the answer to the question why do we care about the things we care about is usually we care about them because other people think we should care about them.” According to Burns this question is important because “we are victims of a vast sentimental conspiracy that tells us what we should care about and what’s awesome about him is he just totally rejects all of those things. He refuses to feel the way he’s told he should feel about things and instead he just feels the way he does and doesn’t give in.” Burns doesn’t exactly believe that Meursault has everything all figured out but he does believe that he has “some things right” even though he is a “godless atheist. He says he thinks “religion and philosophy are both fascinating” and he likes “the idea of trying to figure out the best way to live to be the happiest you can be and different philosophies and religions offer different things.” He appreciates that Meursault knows not to give in to society. Criticism of the book pointed out by Burns is that it “seems to condone violence,” which he doesn’t think is the point of the book. The violence is meant to show that he lives a life “removed from societal expectations.” Burns believes that anyone can successfully remove themselves from giving in to society can live a “slightly better life.” Burns also braves the book in his classroom because he loves Meursault and likes to see the students show emotions toward such an old character because it shows how “timeless” the book is if kids today can still feel towards a character conceived so long ago. There is a scene in the book when Meursault sits on his balcony smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee all day long, not considering the past or the future or worrying about anything, just watching people below him. Burns claims that he tries to channel Meursault in this scene in the summer because “really doing nothing, not worrying about all the things you were supposed to have done but didn’t and being able to really enjoy the moment is really beautiful sometimes especially in the summer.” That is why Burns says that he loves him.