Different Responses to Loss

In the beginning of Stranger, the main character, Meursault, looses his mother and doesn't have a big reaction about it. It could be because of shock, the missing closeness between the two, or doubt. Looking back on my own personal experiences with losses of my loves ones, I cried a lot with the deaths close to home, where I saw the person or animal at or after the time of death. When I lost my aunt in Germany, it did not set in until the funeral and I realized that she had actually passed. I wanted to doubt it and the shock of that the person or animal is actually gone. I miss my aunt, my dog, my cat, and other loved ones all the same but my mourning wasn't the same. Each person reacts to mourning differently, which also depends on their past. Though there is the whole "men don't cry because they have to be tough" facade, it is his mother. We would hope that there would at least be a tear or a feeling of loss shown in the main characters actions. Instead, Meursault lack of empathy for his mother's death results in him being labeled as abnormal. This causes the main character to become ostracized from his peers. This unexpected reaction to his mother's death also leaves the audience with a sense of disbelief as the reader attempts to understand the main character's apathy.