l'etranger, or why i am not a nihilist

So one thing that I haven't done nearly enough of in the past year is reading fiction. A couple days ago, Diana gave me a list of a couple books to read and I was able to find all of them in my house. I didn't post last night because I was focused on reading one of them: The Stranger, by Albert Camus. If you haven't read it, now's a good time to do so—that is, before you read the rest of the post and ruin half of it for yourself.
Meursault is generally a very rational person, although he is completely unable to see any situation from someone else's point of view. This rationality devolves into nihilism towards the very end, as he is first convinced by the chaplain that atheism implies that life is without a purpose and then convinces himself that the unavoidability of eventual death implies that what he does on the earth doesn't matter. This is the inevitable conclusion of a man who lives in a world of his own creation; a world that will die with him. If your life's purpose is limited to yourself, it dies with you, and your life will have accomplished nothing.
Fortunately, there are other options. We simply must consider the existence of people other than ourselves—something Meursault was unable to do. We can take the view that we should extend the self-interest that Meursault holds for himself to everyone around us—we can better the lives of others. Alternatively, and just as honorably, we can take the view that helping other individuals is just as short-sighted as helping ourselves and devote our lives to the progress of the civilization or species as a whole—to the acquisition of knowledge for all of humanity. We can even listen to those who believe that the best way to encourage the progress of humanity is to pay attention exclusively to our own self-interest. But regardless of your choice, there is absolutely no reason to doubt that your efforts have an effect—that your life has a purpose. This is why I am not a nihilist.