Why does Meursault hate the sun? Throughout the novel, the sun is a recurring motif, and it is very annoying to Meursault. The sun simply pisses him off. In fact, it pisses him off to the point where he kills a man, and ruins his own life in the process. The sun, in my opinion, is the main antagonist in this novel because it drives him to his demise.
The sun is mentioned several times throughout the story, the first being at his mother's funeral. "The glare from the sky was unbearable, (16)." While Meursault may not care too much that his mother died, he is still going through the motions and the sun, being the asshole that it is, makes the experience for Meursault even worse.
The sun even goes so far as to bring on Meursault's demise. "The light shot off the steel and it was like a long flashing blade cutting at my forehead. At the same instant the sweat in my eyebrows dripped down over my eyelids all at once and covered them with a warm, thick film. My eyes were blinded behind the curtain of tears and salt. All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, indistinctly, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me....The trigger gave, (59)." The sun is the reason why Meursault had to kill the Arab and that is why he, himself was executed, so the sun indirectly killed Meursault.
I agree that the sun is the main antagonist in this novel. I think it's very interesting how throughout the story Mersault lacks emotion but he sun is able to bring out the feelings of pain and annoyance from him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how you think the sun is the main antagonist throughout the novel. I also Im thinking that the sun is just his excuse for everything that is going wrong in his life and how he doesnt just want to blame himself for his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting and new take on the text. You present a very provocative argument in the sun being the antagonist, but how does it contribute to the greater meaning in the story?
ReplyDeleteI really agree with the post, and I think you approached the material in a humorous but accurate manner. I was wondering if you believe the sun to just represent the sun, or something larger.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading The Stranger, I really did not consider the Sun to be the antagonist of the story. However, the point you make about it being the antagonist is very persuasive. The only thing that seems to break Meursault's rather stoic shell is the Priest at the very end. However that only happens once and the Sun is consistently an annoyance.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Every major moment in the first half involves the sun somehow, and it seems like the sun might even be some sort of divine judgment. He describes the sky splitting open like fire was raining down from the sun, which really does seem like a biblical reference.
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