Maybe Misunderstood Meursault
Throughout our discussion of The Stranger, Mersault's behavior was often a topic that sparked all sorts of conversation. His personality and attitude were constantly questioned. Why is Meursault the way he is? Many things can be said about the fact that he is commonly emotionless and unaffected by the world around him. It is strange to me how he can care so little about so much.
He does not seem affected by his mother's death. This could, however, be simply because he was very detached from her in her final years. He sent her to live in a home where she could be taken care of, and some might think Meursault has no heart for doing this, but he had fair reasoning. When Maman's funeral comes around, Meursault displays no emotion in the presence of his mother's casket, even having a cigarette and a coffee with the caretaker, who later scrutinizes him for it. Is there an explanation as to why Meursault acts this way? Some might say he has already gotten over Maman's death after not seeing her for so long. Others might say he is a cold-hearted man who feels nothing about his mother's death. I think there could be a more reasonable explanation.
Meursault goes about his life very focused on the present. He does not have a lot of plans for the future; he simply wants to please his immediate needs. He is either too hot or too cold, the sun is too bright, he is hungry, he wants a cigarette, he wants to have sex, and if all these needs are met, he can simply sit and do nothing for hours on end. These simple bothersome things might affect him more than others because his brain is wired like that. It might just be how his body functions. This could potentially stem from some developmental disability.
Meursault has to sit through two very serious situations throughout the book; his mother's funeral and his trial. Both times, he finds it hard to focus on the matter at hand (considering the severity of both) and instead concentrates again on his "primal needs."
Time and time again, Meursault displays signs of his inability to comprehend the severity of different situations fully. This extends to his relationships with other people in his life, as well as the things he gets involved in and how that causes him to end up in a terrible place.
I think your argument that Meursault's indifference to various situations around him may be due to some inherent inability to effectively engage with his surroundings is valid. Another way of explaining his behavior would be that he is very selective about what he cares about: himself. As you mentioned, he's very keen to his physical sensations. At the same time, he seems to care about how others treat him (he pays attention to how cordial the people are to him during his trial). Also, much of his reasoning for not caring about something is that it doesn't matter to him.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your portion about Meursault potentially feeling indifferent towards his mother's death because of a prior detachment. He alludes earlier in the novel to once having ambitions, but having to abandon them meant that he eventually developed an indifference to his social status. A similar pattern probably took place for a lot of things in Meursault's life, a point in which he realized that most things around him were meaningless.
ReplyDeleteYeah I get the feeling that we are missing something in Meursault's backstory. I like the point you bring up about him being stuck in the present; in the past, given his ambitions, I'd assume he was more future-oriented, but somehow he figured out that it was just easier to be a creature of the moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think Meursault becomes increasingly detached from the world with every "important" experience he is faced with. He only does something worse whenever society expects him to act a certain way. It started with him being simply indifferent about his daily routine to killing a man. I think the ending pays off well, though, as he can face these expectations and accept who he truly is. Overall, I think you did a nice job laying out how Meursault's actions are more a testament to his character than his sanity.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very interesting how Meursault's mind functions because it's so different compared to the way we think. I definitely don't think he is a cold-blooded killer like the court does, but I think he is a bit of a danger to society because of how little he cares about things that don't really appease him in the current moment. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteMersault's tendency to shy away from the severity of certain situation could certainly sugges that he has some developmental disabilities. His brain is hardwired to satisfy his current needsand complain about current problems. This is best shown Camus' recurring depiction of the hot sun beaming on Mersault and annoying him. Even in dire situations like a court case that decides Mersault's life, he still can't help but focus on minute details like the glare and temperature of the sun. This unique perception of reality seems to be what ultimately seals his extreme fate.
ReplyDeletethis is interesting and I agree Meursault is usually only focused on his immediate(physical) needs rather than the immediate needs that would cater to how our society functions, like ignoring the sun and focusing on mourning Maman. His inability to choose what to focus on really does lead to his death.
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