Alone in a Crowded Room

Mersault's personality throughout The Stranger made me thoroughly conflicted on whether I hated the character himself, or the way he was written into the book by Camus. His mentality was along the lines of nothing really mattered, since we were all going to die anyway, which can make for a pretty flat character. He was unfeeling and cold, even to the girl he was planning to marry. Now I can’t tell if this is how Mersault desired his relationship with the rest of society to be, or if deep down, he is searching for a way to connect with people and doesn’t know how. Throughout the story, Mersault is surrounded by people. From the funeral, to his neighbors, to the beach house, or to the courthouse, there are always people near him. Yet, he seems so alone.

However, Mersault doesn’t actually seem to care that he is alone. He genuinely seems indifferent about Marie, and only agrees to getting married because that’s what she wants. At one point in the book, he says something along the lines of “this was the first time I actually felt like I was going to get married” but that’s all he says. He doesn’t elaborate on how he feels about the situation, and he barely talks about the situation too.

I know that Mersault is supposed to be a reflection of a real person in society instead of some overblown character that needs to feel a certain way in order to further the plot line, but honestly I have a really hard time imagining any normal civilian in society feeling and acting this way on a day to day basis. The lack of interest and motivation he displays throughout the book is astounding, and I would like to hope that the average person works for something in their life, instead of just waiting to die.