FREE ESSAY ON MEURSAULT AS THE STRANGER

MEURSAULT AS THE STRANGER

Derek Goff
English 24104
Mr. Venza
14 April 2000
Meursault as "The Stranger"
The way a person reacts to ordinary situations determines the opinions of others based on
their behavior. Yet, when this behavior is abnormal or different from the rest of
society, it causes society to form an opinion based totally on a person's behavior not
their true personality. In Meursault's case, his strange opinions and unexpected remarks
put him in this position, without ever really giving him an opportunity to be truly
understood. However, Meursault cannot change his actions and behaviors from the past,
therefore making him responsible in the society he freely chooses to live in. Meursault's
complete indifference to society and human relationships causes him to appear as the
actual "stranger" with those he encounters, which eventually leads to his incarceration
and inevitable date with the guillotine. 
Meursault is definitely a man who is set in his ways. He has his own opinions and
outlooks on life and because of that fact he is constantly reminded of his inadequacies
within society. His refusal to look at his mother one last time after she had passed away
seemed pointless to Meursault at the time, where as the funeral director viewed this as
extremely odd:
"We put the cover on, but I'm supposed to unscrew the casket so you can see her." He was
moving toward the casket when I stopped him. He said, "You don't want to?" I answered,
"No." He was quiet, and then I was embarrassed because I felt I shouldn't have said that.
He looked at me and then asked, "Why not?" but without criticizing, as if he just wanted
to know. I said, "I don't know." (Camus 6) 
The difference of opinion between Meursault and all of society, but in this example the
funeral director, brought about a feeling of inadequacy to Meursault and an appearance of
him as a stranger to society. Alice J. Strange explains his situation perfectly by
saying: Holding Meursault to his words, and recognizing the voids they reveal, the reader
sees Meursault as the stranger…. (Strange 3) Throughout the novel, these encounters
and/or relationships gradually set Meursault aside from society. His encounter with the
Arab shows how the presence of other people in his life makes absolutely no impression on
him. Taking the Arab's life was something he did as a natural reaction, he pulled the
trigger thinking it was justified where as any normal human being would think other wise.
Once on trial, Meursault constantly observed the people in the courtroom as if he had no
idea of how the rest of society lived. Every thing he saw was new to him and it brought
him a feeling of excitement, as if he was enjoying being on trial. Fear only came after
his verdict. He didn't even consider his fate early on in the trial because he was in awe
of the rest of society; their behaviors and actions were all new to him. In chapter three
part two Meursault explained this by saying: 
Usually people didn't pay much attention to me. It took some doing on my part to
understand that I was the cause of all the excitement. I said to the policeman, "Some
crowd!" He told me it was because of the press and he pointed to a group of men at a
table just below the jury box. He said, "That's them." (83-84)
The only thing Meursault is worried about is the press, not the fact that his fate is
about to be determined by a group of people that don't even know him. He doesn't even
care about death at this point, only how he is excited to see all these new people and be
able to watch the court proceedings. 
Before Meursault's incarceration, he lived a life of desire based on his own
satisfaction. His life was completely self-centered and focused on his own physical
pleasures. Meursault's obsession with his own desires can be explained by saying that: 
His contempt for man-made necessities', such as religion, morality, government, is
supreme; but his attitude toward natural coercion, hunger, sex, the weather, etc., though
less explicit, seems almost equally disdainful. Meursault is a non-participant (Carruth
8-9).
He took absolutely no consideration of other's feelings and how his actions affected
them. Meursault's love of smoking, eating, drinking, having sex, swimming and being
outside, all of which are physical pleasures, are taken to extremes. Take away these and
try to imagine what Meursault would be like. He would be practically lifeless because he
wouldn't enjoy anything. He is never concerned with what is going on in other areas of
his life or others. His satisfaction comes above everything else in his life and controls
everything he does. Also, Meursault's relationship with Marie was totally based on sex
rather than love. He had sex with her purely out of lust and only to satisfy himself. At
no point did he intentionally have sex with her to express his love for her; love was
never part of his intentions. Another example of how he based his own satisfaction ahead
of everything else was how Meursault went to see a comical movie the day after he buried
his mother. He wasn't worried about his mother at all; the only thing that he was
concentrating on was having a good time. He was able to laugh and enjoy himself knowing
that his own mother had just passed away, something that obviously made little impact on
him. His physical pleasures dominated his life and forced him to behave the way he did.
By letting these physical pleasures dominate his life, he created an attitude and
behavior that was unaccepted and seen as wrong to the rest of society. 
Even though Meursault let his physical pleasures control his life, he was however
satisfied with the life he was living; completely content with where he was in his life.
He never asked anything from anyone and never once expected anything from others. Stephen
Bronner puts this into perspective by saying: "Meursault is passive, unreflective, and
compulsive. He is a prototype of the 'absurd man' who seeks no questions and tells no
lies." (Bronner, The Thinker 44) Mr. Bronner explained that Meursault set himself apart
from others through his passive nature and lived extremely independent. This attitude is
proven even further when Meursault refused a promotion based on the fact that he was
satisfied with the life he had then: 
He was planning to open an office in Paris that would handle his business directly with
the big companies, on the spot, and he wanted to know how I felt about going there. I'd
be able to live in Paris and to travel around for part of the year as well. "You're
young, and it seems to me it's the kind of life that would appeal to you." I said yes but
that really it was all the same to me. Then he asked me if I wasn't interested in a
change of life. I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life
was as good as another and that I wasn't dissatisfied with mine here at all. He looked
upset and told me that I never gave him a straight answer, that I had no ambition, and
that I was disastrous in business. (41)
The thought of ambition and success never even crossed his mind and turning down the
opportunity made no difference to him. He could care less about what his boss and others
thought because he was only concerned about himself. This would appear extremely strange
to anyone because why in the world would anyone not want to earn more money, respect,
power and even have the opportunity to live in Paris? Meursault's problem was obviously
that he had absolutely no ambition. This became blatantly obvious in chapter five when
Meursault said: "When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had
to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it mattered." (Camus 41) So, we
can see that Meursault did at one time have some ambition for something other than
physical pleasures, but once he lost the opportunity to continue his education, he also
lost all of his drive. This showed that Meursault was an intelligent man and had the
ability to expand his intelligence, but apparently chose not to. That definitely appeared
as bizarre to others. 
Meursault's twisted relationship with Marie was totally based on his sexual desires, but
what became extremely clear was that he was unable to experience love. Meursault never
once showed any signs of emotion only until he was about to loose his own life. Meursault
had a hardened soul and could never bring himself to truly love Marie. He proved just how
irrelevant she was to him while he was incarcerated when the thought of Marie brought him
to say: " Anyway, after that, remembering Marie meant nothing to me. I wasn't interested
in her dead. That seemed perfectly normal to me, since I understood very well that people
would forget me when I was dead" (115). His words were just as hardened as his soul was.
Meursault's relationship with Marie was not the only odd relationship he had with a
female. Meursault's relationship with his mother was almost non-existent from hindsight.
He never saw her, or visited her, and until her death she was out of his life so he
didn't care much about her, or so it seems. The fact is he did love her; it was just that
he never showed it, just like every other emotion. Meursault thought that putting Maman
in the home was the best choice for the time being, so she could be cared for better, and
still live a pleasant life. Yet, Meursault never realized that people considered him as a
bad person until his conversation with Old Salamano. In chapter five Meursault said: "I
still don't know why, but I said that until then I hadn't realized that people thought
badly of me for doing it, but that the home had seemed like the natural thing since I
didn't have enough money to have Maman cared for." (45) This realization shocked
Meursault because he was never aware of the reputation he had in his neighborhood. He
didn't want to be seen as a bad person, but his strange actions and self-centered
behaviors created his image and there was nothing he could do about it. 
Throughout the novel, Meursault came into contact with society many times, but each time
he always received an awkward response leaving him with the feeling like an intruder or
an outsider. Meursault's interactions with society such as the funeral director, Maman's
friends, Raymond, the Chaplain, and the courtroom all provide substantial reasoning for
society's perception of him as a stranger. Beginning with the funeral director, Meursault
caused an awkward feeling between him and the director because of his bizarre comments.
Not wanting to see his mother one last time, smoking during the memorial service, and not
even knowing his own mother's age proves to be outrageous when compared to the average
human being's social and moral standards. But the fact is Meursault is not the average
human being. Helene Poplyansky beautifully explained this when she said: 
Meursault is far from social convention or intellectual problems; what counts for him are
his own sensations and desires. He is an outsider not only for others but also for
himself. He looks at himself without trying to analyze his actions and their
consequences. (Poplyansky 80)
By acting the way he did, Meursault almost forced his image as a stranger upon himself.
Also, the closest thing to a friend that Meursault had was Raymond. Initially, Raymond
appeared as a crude man without any morals, comparable to Meursault at times, and he
behaved in an absurd manner. Yet, he attempted to create a bond with Meursault and some
could say that Meursault accepted it, I however do not. From the first time Raymond
appeared in the novel Meursault seemed uneasy to Raymond's motives, as if he didn't trust
him. This feeling never went away either. Even though the two did spend time together and
Meursault did him a favor by writing him a letter, Meursault always seemed to never truly
consider his friendship. Not only was Meursault unable to show any signs of emotion with
women, he is unable to show any signs of emotion to his somewhat of a companion.
Meursault's final interaction with the chaplain showed how Meursault was unable to
connect with and understand other's perspectives. Meursault did enjoy their meetings, but
only because he had no other contact with the outside world; he only wanted to be
entertained instead of sharing any sort of friendship. The difference between Meursault
and the rest of society, courtesy of the chaplain, became blatantly clear when he and the
chaplain discussed their views of after life and religion. Meursault never thought that
the way in which he was living was wrong or even sinful and that is what set him apart
from every other human being. His lack of awareness and ignorance for social values
appeared in chapter five, when the chaplain said: "More could be asked of you. And it may
be asked. And what's that? You could be asked to see. See what?" (Camus 118) The chaplain
was only asking Meursault to try and understand where he was coming from and what he
believed in. Religion never played a role in Meursault's life and he was too stubborn to
try and be open-minded about it. His stubborn attitude and close-mindedness never
permitted him to even understand where others were coming form, he didn't have to accept
it but he could have at least given others beliefs a chance. You could even say Meursault
was blind in a sense that he never opened up so that he could get along with others. He
always saw life in a totally different perspective than everyone else and could never be
rationed with. The obvious difference between Meursault and others became clear when the
chaplain explained to Meursault that the stones on the walls in his cell appeared as the
face of God and salvation. Meursault responded by saying:
This perked me up a little. I said I had been looking at the stones in those walls for
months. There wasn't anything or anyone in the world I knew better. Maybe at one time,
way back, I had searched for a face in them. But the face I was looking for was as bright
as the sun and the flame of desire - and it belonged to Marie. I had searched for it in
vain. Now it was all over. And in any case, I'd never seen anything emerge from any
sweating stones." (119) 
The chaplain's perspective of the stone walls in Meursault's cell was totally different
from what Meursault perceived them as, and within those lines it symbolized Meursault's
and society's conflicting views. The cell represented society and the stones represented
the people within Meursault's life. He lived his entire life around those stones and had
never seen any faces like the chaplain had. The only face he was looking for was Marie's,
or, in actuality, lust. He lived his life pursuing his desires and it eventually led him
to the cell. But how Meursault didn't see the faces represented him as a total stranger
to society because society was the faces, symbolically speaking. Meursault's own
perception of his life and society is only half of the evidence that proved him to be the
stranger. Society too had their perceptions of him and it also left us with the same
conclusion, that Meursault was the stranger.
Meursault did live his life on his own and never depended on others for anything, but the
fact remains that he left a lasting impression on those whom he encountered. During
Meursault's trial, the prosecutor basically reviewed all of society's impressions of
Meursault and how he was a self-absorbed bastard. He constantly accused Meursault of
being inconsiderate and cold-hearted by bringing up instances in his life that had
nothing to do with the actual shooting. Stephen Bronner also stated: "Meursault is
innocent of the crimes for which he is actually sentenced and guilty of what is
essentially ignored" (Bronner, Portrait 34) This proves how Meursault's previous actions
of indifference even caused the prosecutor to portray him as an evil person. The
prosecutor molded an image of Meursault that appeared as if he was the devil incarnate,
and he made it seem as if Meursault intentionally set out to cause pain and anguish, when
really Meursault's only crime was ignorance. It was as if he intentionally set out to
cause others pain and anguish, when really Meursault's only crime was that of ignorance.
Yes he was inconsiderate, but the fact is that he didn't know any better and no one is
able to change that without the help from others. People perceived Meursault as though he
didn't care about their feelings, causing him to be labeled as a horrible person. Another
contributing factor to society's perception of Meursault was his quiet nature. Meursault
did not speak unless he feels it was totally necessary, and even then he sometimes will
still keep to himself. Other people expect reactions out of people in social interactions
and when they don't receive one, what are they supposed to assume? In this case, people
saw his quiet nature as an insult and refuse to understand his true nature. Meursault's
removed himself from a lot of life's complications and tried to live the most simple life
possible. Unlike the rest of society, he didn't bother with things that required effort,
which seemed as if he didn't like to express himself. However, a lot can be misunderstood
from silence. Meursault's silence appeared as ignorance, yet, Jean Paul Sartre stated: "A
man's virility lies more in what he keeps to himself than in what he says."(Sartre 3) His
silence didn't represent insecurity or a lack of consideration. How are others to know
what someone else is really thinking? Meursault's appearance to society was judged from
the wrong criteria. People overlooked what his true personality was and what his true
intentions were, causing him to appear as an unwanted stranger. 
Meursault's character and interactions throughout the novel can only make a person wonder
about his motives even though we, the reader, think we have a insight over the society
that he lived in. All of Meursault's problems and complications were all because of his
appearance as a stranger, which he caused through his ignorance of social conventions.
Yet, it makes me wonder why are strangers always seen as unwanted and why does a natural
fear of them arise? The fact is that strangers are labeled and in some way disrupt a
person's environment. What a person can not understand makes them defensive, and when a
person is defensive they scrutinize what they don't understand, only to make themselves
feel better. Meursault fits the bill for this because when something goes wrong, for
example the shooting, someone needs to be blamed, and no better person than a stranger,
Meursault, to take the fall. Also, since Meursault was so oblivious to others, I realized
that the possibility of Meursault not having a father figure around could have been a
cause of some of his problems. The absence of a father causes a child to grow up
differently from most of society, which usually does grow up with a father, and it
creates the question, is the father to blame? We assume not, but since Meursault is
definitely an odd character it makes us wonder. 
Meursault lived his life different from any other, never aware of others and completely
focused on his personal satisfaction. Yet, after understanding his mentality and
motivations that caused people to label him as a stranger, he can not be totally blamed
for his actions. I am not saying that the way Meursault lived his life was justified nor
were his actions because he did live a self-centered life. What I am saying is that his
true crime was ignorance. Meursault was almost like a young child that was never taught
right from wrong and how to be considerate of others. He never deliberately set out to
cause harm or pain on anyone, he just didn't know any better. Yet, Meursault was given a
chance to realize how he lived his life was wrong only after his judgement. He understood
that what he had done was wrong and that every action has a consequence, and his
consequence was death. The only shame in the matter is that society is just as
responsible as he is because they should have taken the responsibility of teaching him
social values and even morals. Meursault deserved to be punished for his actions, but
being put to death is never justified for being inconsiderate. Now, his fate would never
leave him, but neither would his past. So, Meursault's actions could not be erased from
time and his appearance as the actual stranger to society that is something he can never
change. Justified or unjustified, Meursault will always be the stranger.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Bronner, Stephen Eric Albert Camus: The Thinker, The Artist, The Man. Groiler
Publishing Co., Inc., 1996
---. Camus: Portrait of a Moralist. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999
Camus, Albert The Stranger. New York: Random, 1988
Carruth, Hayden After the Stranger: Imaginary Dialogues with Camus. New York: The
Macmillian Company, 1965
Poplyansky, Helene. Camus's L'Etranger: Fifty Years On. New York: St. Martin's Press, 
Inc., 1992
Sartre, Jean-Paul. An Explication of The Stranger Prentice Hall, Inc., 1962
Strange, Alice J. "Camus' The Stranger." The Explicator (1997): 36-37