The Stranger Case

Sarah Roettker

Writing Assignment #2

Due: March 6, 2014

Absurd or Misunderstood?

     In The Stranger, by Albert Camus, the theory of absurdity is thought of quite frequently.  The novel takes readers through the life of Meursault from the time of his mother's death up to just before his execution for the murder of an Arab.  Readers are forced to see the world the way Meursault sees it through his uninteresting, boring events.  The central theme is that the significance of human life is understood only in light of mortality.  In showing Meursault's consciousness change through the course of events, Camus shows how facing the inevitability of death does have an effect on one's perception of life, even if it seems odd or abnormal.

     Since The Stranger was originally written in French, the title has many different interpretations.  The title of this novel in French is L’Etrangler which is easily translated into English as The Foreigner.  Meursault is a French man living in French Algiers.  In some cases this makes him a foreigner but the text states that his family lived there for many generations before him.  Since Meursault is a seventh generations living in French Algiers, it is absurd that he would be considered a foreigner.  

       The novel begins with the death of Meursault’s mother.  Although he attends his mother’s funeral, he refuses to see her body before it is buried.  It is evident that he is almost unfazed by his mother’s death since nothing in his life really changes with her passing.  Meursault sent her off to a home and by doing this, he sent her out of his life almost completely.  He treats his mother’s death with the same casual manner that he later treats the death of the Arab. This was shown when Meursault commented, “Maman died today.  Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.  I got a telegram from the home:  "Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow.  Faithfully yours."  That doesn’t mean anything.  Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 3).  Most people find it odd that Meursault approaches his mother’s death so calmly but is it really uncommon for Meursault?  When one of the undertaker’s assistants asks Meursault if his mother was old, Meursault responds vaguely because he does not know her exact age (Camus 16).  Even though the age of his mother is never really revealed, the reader can assume she was in her sixties.  For the 1940s, this was a fairly reasonable age to live to.  Meursault knew his mother would die soon and he may have already been mentally prepared for it.  He even states, “Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter” (Camus 114).  Although the way Meursault handles the death of a loved one in a rather absurd way compared to the way most people would handle it, everyone deals with death in a different way.

     The weather in Algiers is fairly warm and desert like.  The heat can make the mind and body do some senseless things but can it be used as an excuse to defend every feeling Meursault has?  Society would think it absurd that a man would let the weather dictate his actions, yet that is exactly what Meursault does.  With a gun in his hand, Meursault is standing on the beach thinking “the whole beach, throbbing in the sun, was pressing on my back… The sun was the same as it had been the day id buried Maman… It was burning, which I couldn’t stand anymore, that made me move forward” (Camus 58-59).  Depending on the sun’s intensity, it either makes Meursault sleepy, angry, or happy.  Since he already has a limited assortment of emotions, this can be quite extreme.  It is also reasonable to state that Meursault is like an element of nature himself.  If all living things are made equal by death then he is a part of the world himself.  It makes sense that he is subject to his surroundings.

     Meursault is always aware of the meaninglessness of all endeavors in the face of death.  He has no motivation to advance in his job.  Meursault’s boss offers him a job in Paris.  In response to this proposal, Meursault says “yes but that really it was 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” (Camus 41).  Obviously, Meursault does not really care about this promotion.  Majority of people would be ecstatic that they were offered a promotion so it is absurd that Meursault could really care less about it.  Also, Meursault is indifferent about being friends with Raymond.  When Raymond invites Meursault over to have blood sausage, Meursault’s first reaction is that he does not have to make dinner (Camus 28).  In addition, Meursault is unmoved by Marie’s proposal of marriage.  Most people create relationships so they are no alone and they have someone to confine in.  Meursault does not think this way and does not really care if he has relationships with others or not.  But this awareness Meursault has of the meaningless of everything leading up to death is never intense enough to involve self-awareness.  He never reflects on the meaning of death until he is in prison awaiting execution.  The meaning of another's death is quite different from the meaning of one's own death.  Death is the one thing everyone and everything has in common meaning it can be as absurd or normal as one wants it to be.  Death itself is absurd in the sense that the rational mind cannot deal with it.  It is an inevitable conclusion.