Mersault's Apathetic Mask

In Albert Camus' The Stranger, Mersault's relationship to Marie is atypical to say the least. Though Mersaults puts up an apathetic and detached exterior, he generally allows himself to show a romantic interest in Marie. However, when Marie asks Mersault to marry her, he acts strangely aloof and indifferent about her; demonstrating an inner conflict in which he has strong emotions but tries to suppress them to appear emotionless.

Starting from the opening line of the story, Mersault remains detached and apathetic about the world, unphased by even his own mother's death. However, he still has strong feelings for Marie, as evidence by his repeated visits to her and acknowledgement of the fact that he wants her and to be with her. At first, it appears that Marie is the one thing in life which Mersault's nihilist nature has yet to conquer. When Marie asks Mersault to marry him and he claims that "it [doesn't] make any difference" and the he "probably doesn't" love her, this theory comes into question.

If Mersault were truly emotionless with Marie being the one exception, he would feel no need to hide his emotions from her. He would be free with the fact that Marie is the exception. But Mersault does deny his feelings, suggesting that his apathy is an image he works to maintain, rather than a state in which he exists without Marie. When Marie becomes distressed at his indifference, he reassures Marie that they can get married, but only if she wants. He clearly wants to maintain his connection with her, but he feels as though he cannot allow himself to want that connection, it must be her want that he is simply going along with. He forces upon himself the state of not caring, even though he does care about Marie and does not want to upset her.

Marie notices this, commenting on how peculiar Mersault is and that she loves him for it but that later, he "might hate her for the same reason". Marie loves Mersault despite his tough exterior because she can still access the tenderness underneath. However, she fears that he will become so secluded that not even she can break through his shell, that his apathetic image will begin to truly take over him to the point where he can no longer escape the act. Is this perhaps why she asked Mersault to marry her so suddenly; she realized that she had limited time before his ruse was no longer a ruse, his forced apathy became natural, and she lost the ability to draw romance out of his indifference?