I found no redeeming qualities to Mersault. I wanted to punch him in the face if I'm being honest. He's the type of person who flees a hit and run scene. Or holds up a soup kitchen because he's too lazy to make his own food. In fact, I felt his personality most closely resembles a sociopath. Is it possible that Camus wrote Mersault's character as someone struggling with the antisocial disorder known to psychopaths and that is why he lacks any emotion? To kill someone and feel so little regret or self reflection from it is a typical sign of sociopaths and most typically psychopaths who are usually but not always serial killers because the general definition is, "caring neither for societal rules, norms, and laws, nor for other people."
A sociopath has no empathy which we see demonstrated multiple times throughout the Stranger, especially when talking about Maman's death. "The day I buried Maman, I was very tired and sleepy, so much so that I wasn't really aware of what was going on. What I can say for certain is that I would rather Maman hadn't died. (65)" Most of the gathering information before the trial resulted in Mersault's lawyer trying to unearth some magical trait of humanity Mersault might possess deep down but to no avail. Just based upon his response to the question of how he felt on the day of Maman's funeral, shows that he mostly cares for his own needs such as how sleepy he was rather than the fact they were putting his mother in the ground.
This leads me to my question of Camus' intentions writing the character of Mersault. Something tells me that the writer would never release a statement helping wondering readers analyze Mersault however that might be part of the appeal. That the reason for his lack of sympathy and emotion could be interpreted by the reader and what they want to believe.
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