The Stranger by Albert Camus begins with Maman’s death, the mother of Meursault, and also portrays the murder of the Arab, committed by him. The post-murder deals with the custody and trial of Meursault. Meursault’s life changes drastically with the circumstances that come along his way. The circumstances and his behavior to it are evident in the novel, through which Meursault is further exposed as a character, deficient in heroic qualities and also fulfills the attributes of an antihero.
From the very beginning of the novel, Meursault fails to express his emotions. After receiving the telegram, that informs him about the death of his mother, he does not mourn or show any grief but takes the initiative of attending the funeral as a formality. In the course of the novel, he comes across several other characters, which also impact his life. In addition to that, it is his friendship with Raymond that later conditions him to unexpected tasks. His killing of the Arab causes havoc in his life and the trial leads to further complications, resulting in his stoic acceptance of the world and his execution.
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Meursault has qualities that are opposed to a hero throughout in the novel, he represses his emotions; talks about the surroundings, and observes the people. On the day of his mother’s funeral, he did not mourn for her and also showed a strong dislike to the people, who took part in mourning. He fails to protest when Raymond beats his mistress; also his ability to make the rash decision of writing a letter, on the advice of Raymond, to play a foul game with Raymond’s mistress renders him as someone, who is opposed to a hero. Thus his morals are peculiar.
When Marie asks him for marriage, Meursault replies, “It didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to” (Camus: 41). Marie wants to know Meursault’s feelings for her so, she enquires him about their bond but for Meursault, it meant nothing as he was not fond of her. When Meursault is in prison, the examining magistrate hopes to help Meursault and utters the name of God by showing him the ‘silver crucifix’ and enquires him of his faith in God, to this Meursault bluntly says ‘no’. However, towards the end of the novel, Meursault again confronts the Chaplain. The Chaplain also enquires him about his faith in God, which irritates Meursault further, and thus he says, “I had only a little time left and I didn’t want to waste it on God” (Camus: 120). Thus from the above qualities it is evident, that marriage and faith in God hold no meaning for Meursault, thus Victor Brombert in his work, focussing on Meursault has perfectly argued that “the events of the external world as well as the events of Meursault’s personal life have no meaning to him”(JSTOR).
Meursault’s life had not been very smooth, when he left school, all his ambitions shattered and hence from the beginning of the novel, he fails to express emotions. He goes to the beach along with Masson and Raymond, where he encounters the Arab, who happens to be Raymond’s mistress’ brother. Meursault, who happens to keep himself afar from others, not only involves himself in Raymond’s matter but also spies the Arabs from a distance. Raymond after being hurt goes back to the Arab with the hope of vengeance and Meursault follows him irrationally, in the scorching heat. He gets hold of Raymond’s gun and goes across the “mass of rock” hence he utters, “I had gone there without thinking about it” (Camus: 58). This brings his passive nature to the forefront. He further observes the Arabs, and suddenly he gets reminded of Maman and utters, “The sun was the same as it had been the day I’d buried Maman” (Camus: 58). His forehead was hurt by heat. Without realizing he encounters the Arab and thus speaks, “I knew that I was stupid” (Camus: 59) . This shows Meursault’s ineffectual nature to hold situation. He further faces obstacles from the ‘flashing knife’ of the Arab and his head hurts. He becomes tense as he seems to be hallucinating and circumstantially, he gives the trigger of the gun, and the Arab drops dead. Gerald Morreale in his work observes “the firing to be circumstantial” (JSTOR). Meursault fires four more shots, followed by the first shot, which over here reflects that he gets reminded of Maman, all his pent-up emotions outpour as the grief lies dormant within him (JSTOR). This shows his violent reaction in an unimaginable situation. Thus Morreale rightly observes “Meursault’s ability to act without realizing that he was killing a man” (JSTOR). His firing of four more shots appears meaningless because he had already ended the game with the first shot. By firing four more shots, after a pause to the dead body, his act seems quite futile and petty. All these above qualities nominate Meursault as equivalent to an antihero, as his acts fail him and prove him the poles apart from a hero since he lacks valor, courage, and generosity. His ignominious action takes him to court, where he thinks his crime to be negligible and waits for his result. In the course of the novel, Meursault’s sudden act of murder is like a jolt in his character. This jolt brings changes in his life and takes him to prison, which adversely affects his life as well.
Meursault remains unaffected by Maman’s death but Maman’s death adversely affects his life during his trial, thus changing the whole scenario in the novel. He was in custody because of his crime. To pinpoint the condition behind his crime, the examining magistrate looks at his ‘background details’ and takes his “insensitivity to his mother’s death” into account. Meursault did not mourn for his mother from the very start, ‘Sundays’ held a lot of importance in his life. It hints that for a person like Meursault, the human relationship was meaningless. After the day of the funeral, he goes out with Marie for swimming, followed by a comic movie, and later to his flat, where he makes love to her. This event hints that Meursault is driven by his needs and self-interest. When the lawyer asks him certain questions related to his feelings for Maman, he vexes the lawyer with his behavior, showing that he gave more importance to his slumber during the funeral. Hence for Meursault lust and sleep held greater importance and he comments, “Physical needs often got in the way of my feelings” (Camus: 65). When the examining lawyer warned him about his inability to mourn for his mother, Meursault rightly argues that, “None of this had anything to do with my case” (Camus: 65). However, fate plays foul with Meursault, he is like a puppet in the hands of fate. His disbelief in God further renders him a “hardened soul” and his lack of emotions “monstrous”. The evidence by the Caretaker, Director, Perez, Marie, and Raymond did not serve any help to him but rather deteriorated his trial further. Meursault was condemned for his morality his motives were questioned and execution was declared. The negligence and his inability to protest on his part make him regret as he speaks, “I blame myself every time for not having paid enough attention to the accounts of executions” (Camus: 108), Meursault’s careless nature and his lack of involvement with himself bring him the unexpected result. This also shows his passive nature, since Meursault lacks the heroic strength to revolt for his cause. However, Meursault has epiphanies after the sentence is passed by the court. He understands that justice was unsatisfactory to him; his realization of the futility of life comes to light and thus his acceptance of the execution. Thus Terry Otten in his work has correctly demonstrated that “Meursault’s mother’s funeral was the primary cause of his present circumstances” (JSTOR). Thus Maman’s death is a link to his ultimate repose.
Meursault is opposed to a hero and more of an antihero in the truest sense. The society has standards and Meursault’s traits show that he behaves in contrary to the standards laid down by the society. His nature of indifference perhaps is quite evident, when he fails to mourn for his mother, which renders him a cruel person. Meursault mainly makes irrational decisions. He takes action without giving thought to the consequences that can happen later. He does not show any feeling of remorse, which is evident after he shoots the Arab. Meursault’s morality is abnormal. His inability to fulfill the rules of society perhaps decides his fate and puts him in a harsh situation. Thus he is punished for his crime but sentenced for his indifference to Maman’s death.
Works Cited
- Brombert, Victor. “Camus and the Novel of the “Absurd””. Yale French Studies 1 (1948): 119-123. JSTOR. Web. 11 Oct. 2019.
- Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. 1942. New York: Vintage International 1988. Print
- Makari, George J. “The Last Four Shots: Problems of Intention and Camus' “The Stranger”. American imago 45.4 (1988): 359-74. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2019.
- Morreale, Gerald. “Meursault's Absurd Act.” The French Review 40.4 (1967): 456-62. JSTOR. Web. 14 Oct. 2019.
- Otten, Terry. “'Mamam' in Camus' 'The Stranger'.” College Literature 2.2 (1975): 105-11. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2019.
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