The facets of existentialism in Golding's Pincher Martin and Camus's The Stranger

This study tries to reveal the influence of Existentialist Philosophy upon French and English Literature in general, and the traces and influences of Existentialism on William Golding?s Pincher Martin and Albert Camus?s The Stranger, in particular. The fundamental aim is to make a comparative analysis of the two novels and their two main characters, in order to present different perspectives and attitudes of two authors, one English and the other French, with regard to the same subject.In the first chapter, the origins of Existentialist Philosopy, its historical development, major concerns and main themes, accompanied by the different viewpoints and contributions of significant thinkers and writers from different nations, are examined in an effort to draw some general lines for the philosophy, which is already difficult to define.In the second chapter, William Golding?s Pincher Martin and Albert Camus?s The Stranger are analysed separately, and then comparatively, in the light of major concerns and main themes of Existentialist Philosophy. In this comparative analysis, the main similarities and differences between these two novels and the main characters are introduced in terms of major concerns of Existentialist Philosophy. In this context, the attitudes of the protagonists towards other people and their experiences in the society as individuals are compared.The result of this comparative analysis is that both Pincher Martin and The Stranger include the basic characteristics of the Existentialist Philosophy, only revealing slight differences about some major concerns and main themes of Existentialism in some parts.