Meursault: Existentialist or Nihilist?

Existentialism and nihilism are both convoluted and have a tendency to overlap, but they can be loosely defined as such: existentialism is the belief that life is meaningless and therefore we should embrace it, and nihilism is the belief that life is meaningless and therefore pointless and miserable. Camus is often hailed as one of the great existentialist philosophers, but in his most famous book, is he really preaching the right philosophy?

In The Stranger, Meursault's actions make it clear that he is not a normal member of society. He rejects social norms and expectations and has out-of-place reactions to events such as being jailed for murder. His behavior is very much in line with the behavior of an existentialist, except for a few problems. Firstly, Meursault spends his time thinking only of himself. He feels next to nothing at his mother's death, makes friends with a man he is fully aware is an abuser, and kills a man because the sun was bothering him. Even Marie, his fiancee, is to him only something to be desired. Part of the existentialist philosophy is that each individual is important, not only the self. Because human existence as a general concept is absurd, individual people are the only thing that matters. How can Meursault follow this philosophy if he gives practically no thought to anyone but himself?

Secondly, Meursault does not seem to find any point in living, despite being at first enraged at the thought of his own death. Meursault does not seek out anything during The Stranger, but instead lives his life passively. He does not often appear sad or hopeless, but he also does not often appear to be truly happy. He does not view life as something to adapt and make his own, but as something that he should sit by and watch. This is not existentialism, which embraces life's absurdity, but nihilism, which rejects life as meaningless and entirely pointless.