The Building of a Complex Deadpan Attitude

The Stranger, by Albert Camus, is a novel about the life of a detached and unemotional French man, Meursault. The publication is split into two separate parts. The beginning of the first part of the story is centered around the loss of Merursault's mother, and how he handles her loss through his daily rituals. 

Camus opens chapter three with,

"I worked hard in the office today. My boss was kind. He asked me if I wasn't too tired and he also wanted to know how old mother was. I said 'about sixty,' so as not to get it wrong and for some reason he seemed to be relieved and to regard the matter as closed."

There are two main things to note within this first paragraph. Firstly, the boss asks if Meursault is, "too tired." With previous knowledge of the boss's actions earlier in part 1, this is not something the boss would normally be concerned about. As he was reluctant to give Meursault any time off for his mother's funeral service. Therefore, Meursault must have looked extremely fatigued. It's interesting that Camus includes this as he writes Meursault as the opposite of restless. Meursault seems to sleep more than anything else.

The second aspect of this paragraph focuses on the fact of Meursault not exactly knowing the age of his mother when she passed. Camus writes,

"I said 'about sixty,' so as not to get it wrong..."

This is a clear sign of lack of concern for his deceased mother. Meursault has just attended his mother's funeral and undoubtedly did not even are to listen as to what age his own mother lived to. This simply adds Meursault 's unemotional and detached view on life.

This whole opening paragraph of chapter three, Camus seems to be building on Meursault's personality and character altogether. Whether it is his deadpan attitude or he's widely recognized opposite reaction to the loss of his mother, Camus chooses his words wisely withing this beginning passage.