The Stranger is not like most typical short stories. Albert Camus, who is the author of The Stranger, created Meursault as this sociopathic character who is honest about his feelings and is detached from society. He can be perceived as nonchalant, passive, dispassionate, and robotic throughout majority of the story. He is not aware of the actions he make, his moods are dictated by powers of Nature, he does not see the difference between being in love and being in lust, he is very attentive to the smallest details, he adamantly refuses to believe life after death, and he mask his calmness about death as well. As the story progressed, Meursault undergo many different events that evolved him into a different character. His characteristics and …show more content…
When receiving a telegram pertaining to his mother’s death, Meursault questions himself whether his “...mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday”. He was not confident about his mother’s death because after reading the telegram, it left “…the matter doubtful…”( page4) .This is an example of Meursault having robotic characteristics because he never once express any emotions about the death of his mother. He was dispassionate and was nonchalant about this awful tragedy since he did not seem like he was interested. He was doubtful since he was not sure when his mother died, and overall, he was not concern about his mother’s death because he did not go to any further discussion about it. He immediately starts to make plans so he can go to the Home his mother was in so he can attend to her funeral. Attending to his mother’s funeral is something that he feel like he need to do. Although Meursault was not interested in going there, he did go. When he came home, he immediately continued his life after he came home from the funeral. Emotionally, he was detached from her, especially when he put her in a nursing home years ago, and his mother was not present in his adult life, so her dying did not do much damage to him and his …show more content…
His isolation from nature, women, and cigarettes tormented him at first, but he eventually accepted the fact that he can live without them. As time passed, he does not notice their absence. Throughout the day, he manages to keep his mind occupied, and he sleeps most of each day. At the day of Meursault’s murder trial, spectators and members of the press filled the courtroom. The subject of the trial quickly shifts away from the murder to a general discussion of Meursault’s character, and of his reaction to his mother’s death in particular. Meursault was found guilty and was sentenced to death by beheading. Meursault returns to prison to await his execution. Meursault went insane when he knew that his inevitable death was approaching quickly. He becomes more aware and conscious of his actions. When the magistrate came in his cell to interview with him, Meursault became more irritated with him. For him to cut this interview short, he pretends to agree with the magistrate. To his surprise, he find “..his face lit up..”. His was consciously aware of his actions because after the magistrate commented him, Meursault find himself shaking his head, not pretending to agree to run him away. He is in a state of acceptance instead of being in a state of indifference, he become more interested in how he views people, and he does not isolate himself from
"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.
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.
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.
During the course of the trial Meursault seemed very emotionless, like he was at his mother's funeral which was used against him while on trial. Meursault hardly payed attention to what was happening during the trial and was spacing and did not help his case at all. Meursault no longer finds comfort in the sun, it gives him nothing but anxiety and fear. “As the sun gets hotter, things get worse”. (82).
3) On a lazy Sunday evening, Meursault thinks, “It occurred to me that anyway another Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I
Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that are considered rude and unpleasant, but because it has become common, society accepts it as norms. Camus incorporates atrocious personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate through the creation of the characters.
In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.
In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is seen as a very unique character, but not in a good way. Throughout the novel, he continually fails to show normal human emotions to things like his mother’s death, Marie’s love, and the man he killed. Most people in his town, along with the reader at first, are not able to reason out his actions but as the final events of the novel unfold, the reader begins to see Meursault in a different light.
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.
The novel initially begins with Meursault receiving a telegram that mentioned his mother’s death. The narrator provided a detailed step-by-step process of what his next plan was after realizing that he now has to go to a funeral the next day. Despite the fact that this was prior to the actual funeral, Meursault was nonetheless apathetic towards his mother’s passing and did not convey any type of common emotions an ordinary individual would present after finding out about a relative’s death. He acted as if he already experienced finding out about the death of his mother since he failed to show any signs of sympathy or interest. The incorporation of this scene
Meursault is then put in jail for murdering an “Arab”. Meursault’s investigators have looked into his private life and claimed he was insensitive at his Madame Meursault’s Funeral. Meursault’s lawyer asked Meursault him why he was not sad about his mother’s burial. Meursault said he probably did love his mother: “that didn’t mean anything”. However, he can’t analyze himself. Meursault’s own defense lawyer is offended by his response and after the lawyer departs and Meursault says to himself: “I felt the urge to reassure [the lawyer] that I was just like everybody else.” (“SparkNote on The Stranger”)
What is equally absurd is that Meursault remains passive and detached over the course of a year of interrogations, and despite the pessimistic nature of his situation, he is able to feel a sense of comfort and belonging within the system trying to condemn him. Ironically, those witness testimonies that sought to free him prove to be the most damaging, and the religious people who surround him and purport to love all men unconditionally persecute him for his lack of belief. Everyone is astonished that Meursault has no emotions about the murder --no sense of remorse or desire to repent. Most men in his position find
When he returns home to Algiers, Meursault carries on with life as normal. Over dinner one evening, his neighbor Raymond tells of his desire to punish his mistress for infidelity, and asks Meursault to write a letter to the mistress for him. Meursault agrees, saying "I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn’t have any reason not to please him" (32). While Raymond is a man of questionable morals, he acts with purpose. Meursault, on the other hand, acts with mostly passive indifference, doing things simply because he doesn’t have a reason not to do them.
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.