Mersault is the narrator in
The Stranger written by Albert Camus. Mersault is not your typical young man, he is more into himself and worried about how things in his life benefit him. Mersault lives in Algiers and he takes a bus to Marengo to see his mother's dead body at an old persons's home where she was living. Mersault does not have your typical reaction of when you lose a loved one, instead Mersault believes everyone owes him condolence because he is going through such a hard time right now:"Then I thought I shouldn't have said that. After all, I didn't have anything to apologize for. He's the one who should have offered his condolences"(3). The fact Mersault believes people owe him something is interesting because he doesn't feel anyway about his mother's death, he thinks its just a random day. Mersault states, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know"(3).
From reading the first chapter of The Stranger I believe Mersault is a very disgusting character. Mersault has no sense of love and the world around him. Mersault believes that the world revolves around him and people owe him.
From reading what I have read so far into the book, I am not a huge fan of Mersault. I think he is very selfish and needs to understand everything is not about him. That is more to life than yourself when you open yourself up and just explore. Mersault thinks everyone owes him something and also the fact that he can get through life with only himself. In life you need other people for help as well as support.
I agree, Meursault is very selfish throughout the book. At the funeral, he just internally complains about the heat, the old people crying, and how far everything is. Throughout the book, he describes lot about how things are inconveniences at inappropriate times.
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