Life is as simple as cause and effect. Even regarding existentialism one normally is pushed down this path by a traumatic event. The event reveals to one that life is truly only suffering, pain, and death and then one embraces the ideas of existentialism. Thus, whether the reader believes that Meursault is just apathetic by nature or embraces the ideals of existentialism an event must have sent him down this path.
I think this event was the abandonment of his father. It is by far a devastating enough event to send someone tumbling into the whirlpool of despair that is existentialism. Camus first mentions it when the prospect of Meursault's execution comes up. Camus writes, "I remembered a story Maman used to tell me about my father. I never knew him. Maybe the only thing I did know about the man was the story Maman would tell me" (110). Obviously this states that he was abandoned by his father, but it doesn't explicitly describe his traumatization from the event.
Camus sprinkles this throughout the book in such a way that the reader needs to be looking for it or it slides right out the cranium. Throughout the prosecutors speech Meursault says, "Only bits and pieces... caught my attention" (99). Then immediately following Meursault describes in unusually descriptive language a speech by the prosecutor, "The prosecutor stopped and after a short silence continued in a very low voice filled with conviction: Tomorrow, gentleman, this same court is to sit in judgement of the most monstrous of crimes: the murder of a father"(101). This speech seems like typical lawyer speech, but Meursault is fascinated by it. By his standards this is the equivalent of paying rapt attention. One wonders why some obscure mention of the death of a father would carry such weight if he hadn't already been sensitized to it.
Camus drops another subtle mention when Meursault goes into a fit of rage when the Pastor asks why he is calling him monsieur instead of father. Meursault shouts that he isn't his father. The pastor then attempts to comfort and incidentally calls Meursault son. Meursault then snaps (120). It's the first time in the entire book when we see Meursault without control and displaying passion, and it's telling that it occurs immediately following someone implying a paternal relationship.
Finally, at the very end of the book Camus implies it one last time. He writes, "why she had taken a "fiance" why she has played at beginning again"(122). This to me explains the conundrum of part one. Meursault's apathy toward his mother's death and the way she was almost already dead to him. It seems like he was never able to get over the abandonment of his father and the fact that his mother could broke him. He cut her off as soon as she took a fiance and from that point she was dead to him. It also explains the ending of the book. Meursault finally comes to term with the event that broke him and it is only at that point that he truly is able to find calm.
I really like your interpretation of why Meursault is the way he is. When I was reading, I thought that all of the mentions of his father were very interesting and showed a lot of his character as well, but I didn't see the connection between that and the chaplain until now. I definitely agree that Meursault's lack of a father played into how his life turned out, especially since in the second part of the book, (in which Meursault spends the majority reflecting on himself) he mentions his father multiple times in different environments. I also thought your last paragraph was really intriguing, Meursault could be harboring negative feelings for his mother due to her moving on. Yet, I think that there is more to it because he doesn't find out about her fiance until she's dead, so there must have been other reasons why he felt little emotion towards her. I think that that is where existentialism and Meursault's character come into play. I really like your analysis of Meursault's relationship with his father, I'd be interested to know when you think his father left.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting way to look at Meursault's relationship, or the lack thereof, with his father. While I totally agree with you that Camus purposefully sprinkles information about Meursault's father throughout the novel, I do not think that it plays as much weight as you have demonstrated. I truly believe that the lack of a relationship with his father does not have a serious impact on Meursault's course of life.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I disagree with the statement that existentialism stems from some sort of traumatic event. I think that existentialism, in it's purest form is beautiful. Meursault is completely right in stating that nothing matters because at the end of the day, it really doesn't. We all go to the grave with nothing but our naked bodies so there is no point in getting unnecessarily attached to aspects of human life.