The Stranger

The Stranger

The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, explains how the human life is something that is meaningless. One man, Meursault, has very negative views on life itself and believes that everyone’s life is equal in meaning. He believes everyone is born to just die soon, and after their death they are not good for anything.

Meursault is very different from other people and does not like to show any emotion. He would rather bottle everything up and try to convince himself that nothing is wrong, or that nothing is a big deal. In the first chapter of this novel, Meursault’s mother dies. He does not show any emotion from her death, and tries to avoid the subject. When friends or neighbors try to confront him about the subject, he quickly changes topics.

At the funeral, workers asked Meursault if he would like to see his mother one last time and he shakes them off. He is surrounded by his mother’s friends, watching them all mourn over the death of their friend, while he is calm and not thinking anything of the matter. He acted as though being there was a big waste of time and meaningless. He daydreams all during the funeral and does not show any emotion. He spends most of his time looking at Monsieur Perez, a man that his mother had been having a romantic relationship with. Meursault also occupies his mind with thinking about how the heat is so bad and he does not like the sun glaring on him. He does not remember much from the funeral itself, but does remember something that what of the nurses said to him. “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast you sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.” This was said while they were walking outside in the heat to where his mother was to be buried. That quote is something that he always thought of for a long time after. He believed that there really was no way out, and either way you lose. This is another aspect of his negative views on life.

Another way he shows his negativity is through his lover, Marie. He goes on his first date with Marie the day after