Meursault is... interesting
Characters in The Stranger
seem to either really like Meursault or feel very offput and frustrated with
his actions. During various points of the novel, I felt myself bouncing back
and forth between these two feelings. At first his passive behavior made it
very easy for all types of characters to feel comfortable around him. Later, after
the murder this thought process got him sentenced to death. Meursault seems to live
on a different wavelength than everyone else which makes him a very interesting
character to read from the perspective of.
Before the murder and trail, I thought Meursault was a
try-hard peacemaker. He always acted very passive when faced with conflict. For
example, when Raymond wanted to get revenge on the girl he was seeing and Meursault
said, “one could never be quite sure how to act in such cases, but I quite
understood his wanting her to suffer for it,” when asked for his opinion (Camus
38). Meursault responds in an indirect way where he places an emphasis on “understanding”
the other and making his answer about Raymond. Raymond enjoys the fact that
Meursault doesn’t try to argue or stop him which satisfies his ego. Marie is also
quite interested in Meursault’s passiveness and neutrality. While he isn’t able
to always give her satisfactory answers she takes them as more interesting or “charming”
(in a slightly weird way) than offensive.
After the murder, when Meursault’s lawyers were trying to
defend him his lack of emotion got him in trouble. The lawyers wanted Meursault
to say that he pulled his gun and shot out of self-defense, and with the nature
of this court would have got him out of jail in no time. Meursault was making
it hard for everyone by insisting on explaining his dilemma with the sun and
the heat. Meursault was also confused and frustrated why everyone was trying to
get him to say things that weren’t true or trying to “find the deeper meaning”
behind his emotionless actions. During the second half of the book, I could
understand the frustration his friends and his lawyer must have been feeling. While
I don’t completely understand why Meursault behaves the way he does, I find his
character and perspective very interesting to read about.
Good blog post, Bridget. Part of what makes Meursault such an interesting character for me is the constant hoping that he would do things just slightly differently, and things would turn out better for him. I think this is the result of his "perfect rationality": while common sense would dictate a familiar path of action for him, his mentality means that he flips between confusing and perplexing actions to us, but perfectly normal actions for him.
ReplyDeleteVery much agree with you here in that Meursault's unique mentality and behavior can others to view him in very different ways. In addition to having different thought processes than everyone else (he seems to feel isolated from social norms and rather more dependent on his physical needs and sensations to determine his next actions), it's also interesting how open and honest he is with his thoughts. Like you mentioned, he feels annoyed when others try to put words in his mouth or say things that he doesn't mean, and it almost seems that being honest is an important principle of his life. Perhaps this honesty comes from thinking that things "don't matter" and thus he has no need to be fake?
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Meursault's thoughts being on a different wavelength add to and shape his character. I think your analysis on his interactions with other characters clearly show his passive behavior. I find that his lack of emotion displayed throughout the novel alongside his passiveness really make Meursault a unique character.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting how other people saw Meursault, especially at the beginning of the book when a lot of people seemed to confide in him. His indifference means that people like Raymond or the neighbor with the dog can talk to him and assume he agrees with what they're saying. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting to see how differently the people around his life reacted to him before the murder in comparison to the people at the trial. In part 1, a lot of his friends and the people he spends a lot of time around actually consider him as a good friend, and are not really disturbed at any point by his lack of emotions. When you aren't actually reading his thoughts (like the reader is), he's more of just a quiet, reserved person. After all, he's lived in society for so long. I agree that it was really interesting to read about and observe his mind!
ReplyDeleteI think when you wrote "Later, after the murder this thought process got him sentenced to death," it sums up what I think Camus is doing with Meursault. His passivity seems harmless, just a bit odd, until he gets drawn into a bad situation and can't be active enough to get himself out of it. So, because everyone feels so comfortable around him and he won't stand against these bad people, he gets drawn into their schemes.
ReplyDelete