Meursault Wanting to Cry

While Meursault often appears uncaring, I'd hesitate to call him entirely uncaring. Rather, he just doesn't care about the same things that most people do. For example, he wasn't saddened by the death of his mother because he understands that death is inevitable. The way he sees it, his mother lived a very long and happy life before passing on. Death is something inherent about life, so Meursault finds it easy to accept.

Meursault is shown however, caring about how others view him, wanting to please others. At many instances he's shown going along with other's wishes simply because he wants to please them, despite having no interest in it himself. Even within the very first section it's shown from his interactions with his boss that Meursault cares about how he's viewed by others. He very clearly doesn't want his boss to see him as lazy and he's insecure about his boss's lack of approval to the extent where he's ready to apologize for taking time off to go to his mother's funeral. (3). Meursault's unemotional response to his mother's death is the first thing that is established about his character, and immediately afterwards his interaction with his boss shows his second most important trait, his need for approval from others. For further proof of Meursault possessing this trait, he agrees to do things that he doesn't want to do, simply to please others. He agrees to testify that Raymond's girlfriend was cheating, despite seeing no proof of it, and having no connection to the situation. He does this simply because, "...I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn't have any reason not to please him"(32). Meursault was willing to be dis-ingenuous in order to gain Raymond's approval. This is particularly interesting because at other points in the story Meursault is shown to value honesty, both with himself, and with others.

During his trial, the prosecutor's hate for Meursault caused him to feel like crying. This is a very rare moment of great emotion from Meursault. As the prosecutor presented evidence against Meursault he showed a great level of glee at the idea of Meursault being punished. (89-90). Meursault felt so hurt because he was no longer being seen as a human, but rather as a murderer. People felt joyous at the prospect of his death. Throughout The Stranger Meursault desired acceptance so greatly, but after his crime, all the public felt for him was unbridled hatred.