Meursault is a man who only sees and accepts the realities of life. His seemingly lack of emotion is in fact a blatant acceptance of what he knows is going to come. Pain, suffering, and death are unavoidable and uncontrollable. Meursault understands that death is coming for everyone, so when his mother dies, it is not the end of his world. He feels her loss but it doesn't affect his life because she hadn't been there for the last few years. Throughout the story he can come off as heartless and cold, but he doesn't associate life with the normal "meanings" most people believe. Friendship, family, love, success, etc... are not prevalent ideas in the way he views the world. He does not stop abuse or pain he sees in his life because he knows his actions won't make a significant change. He believes that people are the way they are and nothing he does can stop the potential pain they will encounter.
Even though he doesn't operate in the same way that "normal" people do, Meursault still has the ability to feel joy or sorrow in the moment. I believe that the ideas of family, love, and friends are what sustains a person's emotions on a particular subject or idea. When a person cares enough to make connections in their life, they will have a lasting memory and feeling towards it until the connection becomes irrelevant. Because Meursault does not make those types of associations within his life, he can compartmentalize and experience only momentary feelings.
I really like your explanation of Meursault's reaction to his mother's death. I understood that Meursault was not particularly shaken by the death of his mother, but I hadn't given much thought into his understanding of her death. Meursault had, in a way, anticipated the death of his mother and was therefore relatively unmoved by the event.
ReplyDeleteI like how you went into detail about Meursault's mother's death and I think it's interesting to write about him not feeling like he can make any significant change. I have not seen that point brought up as much. I feel that although Meursault does has an antipathy towards binding relationships, he still can have lasting feelings. Up until the court trial he described himself as having joy in his life.
ReplyDeletei need a new box to check called rethinking my blog post...
ReplyDelete