Physical Outlook in The Stranger

In The Stranger, Camus uses Meursault as a tool to uncover the layers of artificial constructions that people use to order a world devoid of order. When these layers are stripped away, one is left solely with the physical experience of the world. This is evident when Meursault states, “I was walking slowly toward the rocks and I could feel my forehead swelling under the sun. All that heat was pressing down on me and making it hard for me to go on. And every time I felt a blast of its hot breath strike my face, I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists in my trouser pockets, and strained every nerve in order to overcome the sun and the thick drunkenness it was spilling over me.” Just as in the rest of the novel, Meursault’s outlook in life is totally based on physical perceptions. The sweltering sun irritates Meursault and the “thick drunkenness” foreshadows how Meursault will later shoot the Arab due to the physical effects of the sun. Later in the novel, during court, Meursault admits that he shoots the Arab due to the sun being in his eyes. Although the prosecution and society insist that Meursault must have some deep-rooted reason, his truthful explanation is entirely physical. This contrast between Meursault’s physical outlook and the court’s explanation reveals how society attempts to label and construct things that have no order.