By the end of the first chapter from, The Stranger by Albert Camus, I was left hooked. Reading this book felt like gliding through the events of Meursault's life along with him. But this strange almost "dreamlike" state that he lives in, raises so many questions. The biggest being what is this dude's problem?
First, I would like to lay out some interesting evidence from the first few chapters of the book. On first glance, it might seem that Monsieur Meursault is simply a clueless, emotionless vessel with no self-awareness*. Actually, that would be pretty accurate, until you notice the subtlest hints of human sentiment. Our first encounter with this is his possible guilt surrounding the death of his mother. Although he never truly expresses any guilt outright, we could interpret his dialogue to his boss as a hidden way of expressing his feelings. However, he considers his decision to send his mother to the old people's home very logically, and doesn't seem to feel much regret. A couple more absolutely absurd chapters fly by and we can only watch as Monsieur Meursault digs himself into a deeper hole.
Unsurprisingly, things take a turn for the worse in chapter six, when he literally kills someone. Now if that wasn't a wake up call for him I would be seriously concerned. But alas, he only shows the tiniest morsel of emotion regarding the crime he has just committed. However, his interview with a lawyer reveals some notable information. Meursault says, "my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings" (Camus 65). Now that explains a lot. He sleeps because he's tired, he eats because he's hungry, he kisses a girl because it feels good, and he pulls the trigger because he's in pain. This guy seriously never has a goal, whether on a day-to-day basis or in his overall life.
I would like to go back to chapter five, when Meursault has a talk with his boss. The conversation ends with his boss telling him that he has no ambition and Meursault thinks, with no perceptible sadness, that he lost his ambitions when he gave up his studies. So is he the way he is because of this? Is his lack of ambition the explanation for his prioritization of physical needs? I think his situation is far too complicated to be reduced to this conclusion. We would also have to take into account his lack of self-analysis which he reveals he is aware of... but that would be a whole new discussion (not for today). I'm sure this book will have a nice, satisfying ending that clears everything up...
*Reading his perspective felt like playing a video game for the first time and growing increasingly frustrated that you can’t see anything about your avatar except for its forearms and hands, before finally figuring out how to use a birds-eye view. Maybe this is just a me problem.
I had a similar interpretation of this book so far. Meursault definitely seems dead inside maybe even to the point of mental disorder. Maybe somethings will change in the coming chapters. I think you did a good job looking at how he reacts to events which might normally evoke an emotional response.
ReplyDeleteI really like your post and think it has a lot to offer for discussion. The book is really fun to read and describes well what is happening but you are right there's not really any feeling or emotion from him. It is really interesting how he is like that but your right with the hints we see. The conversations you describe are indicators of what happened and how he might feel. The killing of the person is in response to pain and I think your totally right with how he responds to physical actions. I am excited for the ending too! Great Post!
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog Comment!
DeleteI didn't notice that part you were talking about in chapter five, when he says his ambitions were lost with his studies. It would be very interesting to get a chapter that flashed back to a time before this, to see if he had any more semblance of humanity then.
ReplyDeleteI was also really confused about his character in the beginning, and my personal conclusion is that he was always like this and nothing specifically triggered his emotional state. As he says before it is his nature, maybe one that was amplified through his harsh circumstances, but I doubt he would be able to repress emotion as well as he does if he ever really felt any.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the perhaps surprising lack of "sadness" when Meursault refers to his loss of ambition. Like so many other conventional narratives that are treated with irony in this novel, we would expect the "ambition" narrative (you want to be promoted at work, you want to make a move that might improve your circumstances, etc.) to have more of a hold on Meursault. But as you note, he actually seems *relieved* not to have that pesky ambition making him, like, DO things. Ambition in this novel seems like something you'd want to be free *from*, and Meursault's boss is suitably baffled by his response.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, this failure to "understand" him prefigures later failures to get him to respond appropriately to a religious worldview, or "hope" for salvation. There's that same sense of "But everyone always responds to this offer differently than you did!"
Great post! I like the idea that Meursault makes us uncomfortable, because we expect more from people. I think that is the point Camus is trying to make through Meursault’s outlook on life and experiences. He doesn’t have plans, opinions, or goals, so he gets dragged into a horrible situation by the unsavory Raymond. If he would just make a choice, maybe he’d be better off.
ReplyDelete