"After lunch I was a little bored and I wandered around the apartment. It was just the right size when Maman was here. Now it's too big for me, and I've had to move the dining room table into my bedroom. I live in just one room now, with some saggy straw chairs, a wardrobe whose mirror has gone yellow, a dressing table, and a brass bed. I've let the rest go." - Albert Camus' The Stranger, page 21
Camus lives up to the strangeness of his title by inserting the antithesis of materialism. Although the novel was originally published in 1942 France, I think there would still be materialistic values in society, right? World War II was blowing full force across Europe, and Camus is seated in a cushioned chair, writing of his protagonist's self-sacrifice (at least that's how I envision him).
Perhaps I have completely misinterpreted the quote. Maybe Meursault is truly grieving over the untimely loss of his mother, but I personally find that hard to believe, as he hadn't visited her, nor could he recall the actual day his mother died.
If I could visit Meursault myself I would scorn him for wasting such a lovely French apartment! Yes, houses can be too large for comfort, but there's no need to squash furniture into the four walls of a room when there's an entire apartment to inhabit.
I assume I owe a massive apology to Nabakov for bringing my personal vision of materialism and the correct use of furniture and applying it to Camus' "new world" which I have just begun to learn of in the first 30 pages of the book. But Meursault seems to be wasting away his life and worldly possessions. Who hurt this man? I don't believe that he's ethereal enough to reject all material temptation, yet he seems to be moping around in a cramped apartment that shouldn't be. His only solace comes from a liquor bottle or the fingers of a cigarette. Perhaps that is why his mirror has gone yellow. Smoke is no good for material possessions, but they must not have known that in 1942 France.
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ReplyDeleteI would be curious to see if the rest of the book continued to demonstrate anti-materialism. Honestly I had just read that passage as his way of mourning for his mother, but you are right. His entire attitude towards his mother and her death was tepid, almost coming off as irritable during the vigil. He also did not visit her. Maybe, to him, it was a bittersweet moment. She had learned to resent his mother after long years of taking care of her, but, after all, she was his mom.
ReplyDeleteAlso it was not his fault he did not know when she died. The telegram he received just neglected to tell him when she had died.
If you did not point it out I would not have given Meursalt's lack of interest in material objects a second thought. It's really interesting that you picked up on the anti-materialism. I think there are many ways to look at the situation though. I agree that he spends a lot of time moping around. But it's hard to tell if that is just how he deals with grief. Maybe his odd living style is him coping with being just a little bit more alone in the world. Maybe there are memories in that apartment that we have yet to learn about that he struggles to deal with. But I do lean towards what you say that Meursalt seems rather uninterested in the death of his mother and the place he lives. What you pointed out leaves me with so many questions that I really do hope are answered as we keep reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the fact that Meursault is not grieving over his mother, and I think this is especially evidenced by his overall disinterest during the vigil. In terms of his use of space in his apartment, I think this might have to do with his direct and calculating point of view. Perhaps he only use this one room because he simply finds no necessity in indulging in the unused space.
ReplyDeleteI would not have thought much of this moment if you hadn't pointed it out and I agree, after rereading it that it seems that Meursault has little interest in material things. But I don't think that this is a demonstration of anti-materialism so much as a further illustration of the indifference of Meursault's character. The end of the quote, "I've let the rest go," seems to me to be Meursaul's lack of interest in the apartment like his lack of interest in visiting his mother or grieving her death; that he doesn't care enough to keep up the rest of the space besides what he absolutely has to.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good point, I never thought of applying his indifference to the entirety of his character. I have a feeling that same pattern will continue throughout the novel.
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