Meursault Investigation And The Stranger Essay

In the novel The Meursault Investigation, Kamel Daoud weaves a sister story for Albert Camus’s The Stranger, and has a dialogue of sorts with Camus. At times Daoud’s novel is very critical of Camus, standing in opposition to the attitudes and themes in The Stranger. The existence of The Meursault Investigation and the character of Musa is a criticism of the incomplete picture that Camus paints in his story, and the namelessness of “The Arab” that Meursault killed. Daoud gives a name to Meursault’s victim beyond that of “The Arab.” At other times, Daoud’s book parallels a lot of the ideas put forth by Camus. This can be seen as Harun slowly comes to resemble the man who killed his brother after committing a murder

All the facts the prosecutor presents are valid and true, though unrelated to his case. From the prosecutor's point of view, Meursault is a “monster, a man without morals” (96). Even Meursault agrees that "what he was saying was plausible" (99). The reader, who knows all of Meursault’s thoughts, knows how absurd the prosecution’s accusations are. Throughout the trial, Camus explains that perception means everything, and there is no absolute truth.

In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.

Consequently, Meursault was put in jail and given a lawyer, but before given a lawyer he states how “I admitted I hadn’t hired an attorney and inquired whether it was really necessary to have one” which explains how indifferent this situation was to him (Camus 36). While if he felt any sadness the day Maman died, Meursault answers with “I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything” therefore upsetting his lawyer because his answer was too truthful (Camus 65). After that answer it was apparent that his lawyer was upset and even asks Meursault if “he held back his natural feeling” which Meursault said no too, making the lawyer seem disgusted with Monsieur Meursault. This little dispute made Meursault conclude that “I made him feel uncomfortable” which isn’t unusual with Meursault and his way of communicating with others (Camus 66). After Meursault’s trial for cold blooded murder, he is sentenced to an execution, and that is when he realizes he can finally

Meursault is truthful, therefore not only is his guilt dealt with at the murder trial, but his personal views and opinions come out as well. In fact, during the trial his lack of emotion about his mother’s death seemed to be of more importance than the murder he committed. From this it seems that truth is a crime and

This easy-going, pleasant hedonism is interrupted permanently by Meursault's murder of the Arab on the beach. Not only is he incarcerated, but also he must examine the reality behind the illusion of his trial and, ultimately, of his life. Introspection has not been his metier. It takes him a while to realize that the judge, the jury, the journalists, even his own lawyer, do not wish him well. Meursault finally realizes that he is going to be convicted, not because he killed an Arab but because he did not mourn his mother's death.

Meursault was introduced as a young man whom recently found out his mother, Maman, died. He was not the most emotional person, but he dealt with his feelings the best he knew how. Meursault lived his life on the verge of truth and honesty. He was honest within every aspect of life, from women to freedom. He was never certain about anything in life ,but one thing he was sure of, death was inevitable. After murdering an Arab, he was on trial in front of many people being interrogated with many questions about why he did what he did, but also to evaluate his psyche about the situation. Unlike others, Meursault did not hide from the truth and that is what others could not cope with. Living his life the way others were afraid to, Meursault was the outcast in his society.

From the start of the story Meursault showed no regard to human life. Life to him was meaningless. His action toward his mother’s death was the 1st encounter into how emotionless, cold, untouched & unmoved Meursault was. Although he attended her funeral he was only there in the physical. Natures’ element and the environment around him was more of concern to him than the death of his mother. He was basking in how bright the sky was, and then got frustrated because the sun was so hot he was sweating, stating “The sweat was pouring down my face”. (Camus, 1988, pg. 16) He also couldn’t remember anything about the funeral except for one thing, stating, “everything seemed to happen so fast, so deliberately, so naturally that I don’t remember any of it anymore, except for one thing, the nurse spoke to me, she said “if you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke, but if you go too fast, you work up a sweat”. (Camus, 1988, pg. 17)

"The day after his mother's death, this man was out swimming, starting up a dubious liaison, and going to the movies, a comedy, for laughs. " The prosecutor uses Meursault's previous unusual actions as evidence that he is a threat to society. His actions are deemed monstrous by the jury and subsequently end in Meursault's conviction. Society uses the past in order to justify the present. It is incorrect for one to assert that Meursault has no emotion or incapable of emotion; it is simply that he fails to exhibit it for he feels it is meaningless.

caretaker than he did his mother’s body. He did not even enter a time of mourning.

Camus’s emphasis on time accentuates Meursault’s indifference. This indifference reveals that death occurs inevitably, regardless of time. The first thought that the audience reads, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday,” immediately exhibits that when Maman died does not

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

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.

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”.

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.