While reading The Stranger, I'm having a very difficult time not getting angry with Meursault. I know that as a good reader you aren't supposed to try to relate to the character, but I still feel aggravated by Meursault's constant indifference. When he tells Marie that it doesn't matter if he loves her, and his boss that his life would be just as good if he didn't move to Paris, I want to scream at the book. How could he be indifferent about these things?! It's mind boggling to me.
Another aspect of Meursault that I can't understand is how unwilling he is to form emotional attachments to people. This, along with having no empathy, are two qualities he shares with psychopaths. Although I'm not sure that I believe Meursault is really a psychopath, I don't think that his indifference is just another personality trait. I think there is more of a story behind it.
I don't think he's exactly a psychopath, Meursault just has different ways of showing his affection towards people. Of course he loved his mother and she loved him in return but he could not afford to live with her so he had to send her away. Meursault is not being selfish and holding onto his mother for his own needs but by letting her go shows true love because he would rather them both be happy and well fed than slowly driven to resent the other. Also, I believe he does love Marie but just doesn't realize it yet. If you re read the scenes at the beach between the two you can feel the romance between the two but when Meursault is confronted about it he shies away which just shows his nature.
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