Wednesday, October 4, 2017

The Summer Heat

Even on the very first page of The Stranger the main character Meursault notes the heat as he catches the bus to his Maman's (his mother's) funeral. The heat returns during his Maman's funeral procession,  Meursault described this heat as "...inhuman and oppressive". The heat was enough to burst open freshly lain tar, and certainly enough to make Meursault completely delirious. "I felt a little lost between the blue and white of the sky and the monotony of the colors around me--the sticky black of the tar, the dull black of all the clothes, and the shiny black of the hearse." (17). Due to the heat-caused delirium and his general uncaring attitude, Meursault left an old man, Thomas Perez out in the heat. As a result, Perez fainted. In the heat, Meursault loses his ability to reason, his anti-social tendencies become stronger, and he cares only about escaping this overwhelming heat. The overwhelming heat also represents death, being on the day of his Maman's funeral.

Later on in the novel, Meursault finds himself in a gun stand-off at the beach. This stand-still lasts for hours, and once again the heat is powerful, the author, Camus, even goes as far as to directly compare the heat at the beach to the heat Meursault experienced the day of his mother's funeral. On the beach it seems even more intense than before, this time being described as burning, scorching and fiery. Like the first scene, the beach scene is very trippy and fever dream like. Meursault describes his sweat and tears forming a thick film over his eyes that was almost identical to how he had described Perez on the day of his Maman's funeral. Once again, Meursault lost control of himself as he entered a state of delirium. This time as a result, he killed a man.

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