In the novel, “The Stranger”, Meursault fits appropriately in the novel because his actions, feelings, and his way of thinking towards certain events can make people realize that his personality can be “strange.” Throughout the novel, Meursault can be expressed as a person who doesn’t really care what comes and goes throughout his life, and may be viewed as an outcast towards society for the way his actions portray in the novel. He may also be viewed as a man with no emotions because he doesn’t know how to express himself towards others, and a man who is trying to figure out himself throughout the course of his life. When reading the novel, you may think of Meursault as a person who doesn’t express his way of thinking, but then later realize that you personally can relate to Meursault in some sort of way(s). In the beginning of the novel, Meursault gets a telegram that says that his mother has died. When he attends his mother’s funeral, Meursault may be viewed as annoyed, or doesn't want to be there at all. “Then I felt like having a smoke. But I hesitated, because I didn’t know if I could do it in front of Maman right there. I thought about it; it didn’t matter” (Camus 8), this shows the reader that Meursault at some point did care about his mother, but gave up because he knew she was dead. Meursault at this point shows that he doesn’t care what people think about him, and that he would just continue living a normal life after this, nothing will change his perspective.
He has no initial reaction to the news of her death, and at her funeral service he did not bother to even see her before she was buried. His lack of emotion is evident in the very first lines of the book, “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.” This shows that Meursault is hardly caring for his mother. Society’s standards would result in him to be in absolute mourning and wanting to go as fast as possible to her body. This is not the only example of Meursault’s lack of emotion and care for factors in his life. He does not care for love and marriage after having intercourse with someone; the society standard at this time was to get married if two partners had intercourse. He does not care for promotion and career advancement when his boss offers him a better job opportunity; the standard at that time and right now is to pursue the best career possible. In these scenarios Meursault is living free from the chains, and does whatever he thinks is right to do. Eventually, society rejects him and his ways, and he gets in trouble with the law. He is judged by society and his ways are ridiculed, making Meursault appear to be a monster.
One can also notice the negative connotation of the words the author manipulates to imply Meursault’s unhappiness in prison. In this passage, the shift in Meursault’s growth in self reflection when he looks at his reflection on the tin plate, shows his recognition of himself. He observes and understand himself when he looks directly at himself unlike before. It’s in this passage that Meursault finally recognizes himself and his voice, “I, distinctly heard the sound of my own voice. I recognized it as the same one that had been ringing in my ears...and I recognized that all that time I had been talking to myself” (81). The importance of Meursault’s recognition of his voice symbolizes his understanding of himself. Until now, Meursault lived his life without the recognition of himself or his voice. This significant change shows Meursault’s beginning to understand himself, his views or philosophies, and his life as he spends more and more time in prison.
After only a few days of trial, the jury in The Stranger declares that the main character, Meursault, is to be executed by guillotine in the town square. The trial and its verdict are one of the important parts of the novel, as Albert Camus uses them as a metaphor to summarize the two main tenets of absurdism. Camus uses the trial and persecution of Meursault to express his belief that the justice system is flawed because of his absurdist ideals that truth does not exist, and human life is precious. In order to reform the justice system, Albert Camus believes that capital punishment needs to be abolished.
In Albert Camus novel, The Stranger (The Outsider), the main character Meursault displays a unique indifference to his surroundings and the world around him. It takes him a degree of time to come to terms with his indifference, but when he does he feels truly free from society's constricting bonds. He leads an apathetic lifestyle that is characterized by his constant lack of a definitive personality. Meursault wanders through life as if in a drunken stupor, living the life of a pleasure seeker. When he accepts his death he is relieved of the pressure of dealing with guilt and with relationships towards other people.
Meursault is truthful to himself and others throughout The Stranger. Unlike most, he doesn’t feel it necessary to lie in order to make others feel better. He is truthful, regardless of whether or not the truth may hurt. For example, in chapter four Marie asked Meursault if he loved her. Instead of lying to her or giving a vague answer Meursault told her that he probably didn’t love her, but it wasn’t important anyway.
The funeral director is the first to discuss this with him, critically stating, “You don’t have to justify yourself, my dear boy. I’ve read your mother’s file,” (Camus 4). By leaving Maman under the care of the senior home, Meursault should feel guilty for his actions since he was his mother’s “sole support” (Camus 4). However, he feels no guilt, similar to how he lacks any sentiment of sorrow during the processions. Individuals of society are conditioned to have a specific pattern of emotional responses elicited by inevitable yet critical life events. Regardless of whether genuinely affected or not, all are expected to conform to these behaviors. Thus, it is what Meursault does not do that makes his character such a prominent cause of concern in the context of the literary work. The absence of an emotional relationship with Maman develops justification as to why Meursault did not cry at her funeral, nor feel culpability for placing her in the nursing home. Camus develops the social outcast aspect of his character through these instances of defiance to social rituals. It is significant to consider how although Meursault 's preoccupations are unusual, he still runs through the motions of cultural norms. He attends the funeral, has a girlfriend, and enjoyed the companionship of his friend Raymond. The real threat of his
Meursault is the main character from the Novel The Stranger by Albert Camus. Meursault is psychologically detached from everything around him. He does not have strongly attached emotions connected to anyone or thing. As for people in his life he does not feel any sentimental emotions towards. In his mind his actions are neither good or bad when it comes to his morality. He does as he pleases because he has the ability to do so without realizing the consequences.
Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked upon by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that show true humanity which tends to have been ignored due to the fact of how typical it has become. Camus incorporates abominable personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus. Meursault does not feel any great sadness over his mother's death, yet everyone in the novel seems to try to justify his actions. Why doesn’t Meursault feel any type of sadness or remorse for this mother's death? He seems to not have any kind of feelings or nothing for his mother's when she was alive if he did, he would not have been more remorseful for her death. Meursault acts as though he was not close to his mother's and like he didn’t want to attend her funeral. His friends also seem to back him up by defending him in saying reasons why he shows no feelings or sadness for his mother's death, they say “that’s his way of showing how he feels everyone shows how they feel in different ways”.
The novel starts out with Meursault getting a telegram saying that his mother had died. He takes time off work to go to her funeral and completely fail to show the emotion that the reader expects to see of a son towards his recently passed mother. First and foremost, when he arrives, the coffin is
Truth and honesty is the aspired driving force within one’s life but it can be as destructive as deceit and dishonesty. People always yell, “Tell the truth, be honest with me!” but when all things are said, their first reaction is to call out the lack of sympathy of the person. In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault lives his life through truth and honesty but societal morals and values often bring him down in more ways than one.
Primarily, Meursault’s aloofness towards the world started to crack after experiencing Maman’s funeral. In the beginning of the novel before the funeral of his mother, Meursault’s desire to “ [see] Maman right away” (Camus, 4) so that he can leave as soon as possible expressed the height of Meursault’s absurdism. Even during the funeral Meursault seemed to care more about “[Perez’s] ruined face”(Camus, 18) than his mother’s casket. However this changed during the sunday after the funeral when Meursault seemed to finally take notice of his mother’s absence from his life stating how his apartment was “just the right size when maman was here”(Camus, 21). This quote is significant because previously Meursault stated “ I didn’t go [to the old
distant at his mother’s funeral and he was distant with Marie and he was distant with the
The simple sentences in The Stranger reveal Meursault’s emotional detachment from society, while the more complex sentences are assigned to objects with authority. Throughout the entire novel, Meursault’s simplicity and disinterest in the world can be identified with the incorporation of his simple statements. Especially in this particular passage, Meursault finds it unimportant to challenge himself in a way that makes sense. Although Meursault recognizes the sensibility of walking
In addition, Meursault cannot find a solid place in society. He lives alone due to the death of his mother. Society cannot accept the manner in which Meursault addresses his mother’s death. Since he thinks that “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, [he doesn’t] know” (Camus 3), society believes that he does not care that his mother dies. Everyone judges him because he does not relate to the rest of the people. Meursault receives immense criticism at his trial concerning his murdering another man. At his trial, Meursault can “feel how much all these people [the jury] hated” (Camus 90) him. The jury does not commend him or even regard him with understanding about his mother’s death. Some people react to death without actually reacting to it; Meursault subconsciously chooses to do so but receives condemnation. Both characters experience isolation from society.