An Outsider is a person who feels like a stranger in the society of “normal” people.
In a socially acceptable form, he is an introvert. In a less acceptable form, a hermit. He tends to self-isolate. He sees the world too clearly and too painfully. He cannot dissolve into the daily routine. He asks radical questions about life, death, purpose. He wants to go beyond the trivial. He suffers from a sense of meaninglessness. And perhaps, most of all, he suffers not from his “abnormality,” but from his inability to fit into modern society.
“He knows he is sick in a society that does not know it is sick.” - Colin Wilson, The Outsider (1956)
The Outsider's Journey
In The Outsider (1956), Colin Wilson explores the existential predicament of individuals who cannot fully identify with the society.
Stage 1. Conformity - The Attempt to Become Normal
Initially, the Outsider will try to overcome his difference by becoming like everyone else.
He will adopt social masks, imitate conventional behavior, accept established definitions of success and attempts to fit into the system.
He hopes that belonging will eliminate his discomfort.But conformity comes at a price: the more successfully he adapts externally, the more disconnected he becomes from himself.
Stage 2. Alienation - The Failure of Conformity
Eventually, the effort to be someone else becomes exhausting. The Outsider may succeed socially while experiencing a growing sense of inner emptiness, loneliness or estrangement.
He begins to recognize that acceptance by others does not necessarily translate into acceptance of himself. He feels increasingly alienated from his own existence.
He realizes that conformity is not a sustainable solution. But he has not yet discovered an alternative.
Stage 3. Existential Crisis - The Impossible Choice
The Outsider reaches a point where neither conformity nor isolation seem to work for him. He cannot continue pretending to be someone he is not, yet he fears that abandoning conformity will mean losing connection, relationships, security and belonging.
He starts experiencing his difference as a personal tragedy. The crisis confronts him with a seemingly impossible dilemma: do I have to sacrifice myself to belong, or sacrifice belonging to remain myself?
This is the turning point of his journey.
Three Possible Responses to the Crisis
1. Self-destruction - Rejecting both society and oneself
The Outsider refuses to conform but cannot imagine a meaningful alternative. He may withdraw into resentment, nihilism, chronic passivity or destructive behaviour. He does not want to live like everyone else, but he also cannot create his own path.
His otherness becomes an identity organized around exclusion: he knows what he is against, but not what he wants to live for.
2. Renewed conformity - Choosing belonging at the expense of authenticity
Frightened by the consequences of being different, he doubles or triples his efforts to become normal. He suppresses his doubts, increases his efforts to meet expectations, and tries to silence his discomfort through achievement, discipline or social approval.
This strategy may provide temporary stability, but the underlying conflict remains unresolved. The price may be exhaustion, resentment, loss of meaning or burnout.
3. Acceptance - Abandoning the struggle against one's own nature
The Outsider starts accepting that his difference is not necessarily a flaw to be corrected and not a sickness he needs to cure himself from. He stops treating conformity as the only possible route to belonging and begins to question the assumption that a meaningful life must resemble the lives of others.
This does not mean going into permanent isolation. On the contrary, acceptance creates the possibility of change: instead of trying to become someone else, he can begin discovering what kind of life is possible for someone like him.
Acceptance unlocks access to two new levels.
Stage 4. Rebellion and Creation - Transforming Difference into Possibility
Once the Outsider stops fighting against his own nature, he can redirect his energy toward creating a life that expresses it.
If previously, his rebellion was primarily negative and destructive, it now becomes a source of constructive and creative action. The dissatisfaction with established norms is a great inspiration for creativity.
The Outsider may find expression through art, philosophy, entrepreneurship, intellectual inquiry, new communities or unconventional ways of living. He no longer defines himself primarily by what he refuses to be, but by what he chooses to create.
His difference becomes a potential source of contribution rather than merely a source of suffering.
Stage 5. Return to the World - From Outsider to Creator
The final transformation occurs when the Outsider no longer needs to choose between authenticity and participation in the world. He integrates his uniqueness into the way he lives, relates to others, and contributes to society. He finds a way to belong without conforming and remains true to himself without withdrawing from the world.
He can engage with society without surrendering his individuality. In Wilson's language, the Outsider may develop toward the figure of the Prophet: someone whose distinctive vision becomes a source of insight for others.
The path of the outsider is tragic and difficult
The path of the Outsider is tragic and difficult. As it happens, because of my profession, I know many people who feel they do not fit the norms and expectations of modern society.
And you do not have to look far to understand why. Anyone who reads more than one book a month already looks suspicious. Anyone who has something resembling an intellectual life is, at the very least, weird. Anyone who decides to leave an unsuitable career, change professions, and live on a fraction of their previous income… well, this person is no longer merely suspicious or weird. This person is DEFINITELY unwell.
Are you telling me you have an inner life? That you entertain complicated thoughts? That you are constantly searching for meaning, asking questions, and cannot simply calm down and live normally, like all normal people? That's too intense.
Because modern society demands that we not only live our lives the best way we can, but that we constantly enjoy ourselves, look for pleasure, consume, be fast, be busy, be adaptive, be simpler. Be “normal”..
But what if you simply cannot not? What if you do have those Big Questions? What if you cannot enjoy what you are “supposed” to enjoy? What if you do not want to participate in the endless race for experiences, status, body, income, travel, personal brand, and the right version of yourself - “right” from the point of view of the others, of course? What if you do not want to optimize life, but to understand and deepen it?
What if you do not want to consume, but to create?
Are you sure you prefer being different?
I have something like a book pharmacy - my own collection of books or fragments of them that I "prescribe" people for different existential struggles. And there is one book that, in my humble opinion, has a wonderfully healing effect on those who feel like Outsiders: The Revolt of the Masses (1930) by José Ortega y Gasset.
This is not a motivational book about how you need to believe that you are chosen, a superhuman, or a special snowflake. This book simply shows an alternative scenario. It describes The Normal Person and what will become of our society if the Outsiders keep crawling back into their caves.
A Normal Person is not necessarily a bad person. The mass man can be very successful, intelligent, kind, wealthy, well-integrated, and highly functional. The main differences lie elsewhere: this person has almost no interest beyond pleasure and survival, he has no cultural or intellectual life, he has no demands towards himself, he does not feel an inner obligation to grow deeper. He accepts himself as the measure of all things. He is not tormented by questions and waits for ready-made answers. The goal of his life is comfort, stability, and safety.
And in the name of this, he will destroy anyone who dares to remind him that life can be something more than comfortable survival. He will criticize, despise and exclude anyone who asks questions that are too deep. Anyone who does not want to live on autopilot. Anyone whose very existence violates the collective agreement that “normal” is enough.
The choir does not like soloists. If this is the alternative, are you absolutely sure you prefer being an insider, being Normal?
And if not, what good can you make of it? See stages 4 and 5 of the cycle described by Colin Wilson.
Want to dive in?
Suggested readings:
- Colin Wilson - The Outsider
- José Ortega y Gasset - The Revolt of the Masses
About the author: Tamara Markova, PhD, is an existential philosophical counsellor and a passionate believer in the transformative power of books. With a background in corporate strategy and organizational behavior, she is fascinated by the phenomenon of being human. Her work helps people recognize that to be human is to be unfinished, constantly becoming, and that life is an open project to undertake.