I think that Meursault is "the stranger" in this book because he is so isolated from other people. He is isolates himself from the norm mentally, emotionally, spirtually, and physically.
Meursault is mentally and emotionally a stranger because he doesn't mourn the death of his mother. At her funeral, he is around several people that are crying over her, but he feels like her death doesn't really matter. He thinks that he life hasn't really changed because of her death, so he doesn't feel an emotional connection to the other people at the funeral.
He is spiritually a stranger because he told the magistrate that he didn't believe in God. The magistrate says, "it was impossible; all men believe in God, even those who turn their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless"(69). The magistrate's life is meaningful because of God, but Meursault feels like his life doesn't have anything to do with religion.
And, he eventually physically becomes a stranger when he is isolated from other people in prison.
Meursault is a stranger because he is so detached from the ideals of the world he lives in. He doesn't value friends, family, relationships, God, or justice. But he lives in a world where those values are the only things that matter and if you don't value them, you are thought of as detached from society.
I agree with you that Mersault makes himself a stranger to the world by isolating himself. If the existentialist argument stands, since Mersault has detached himself from the constructions of emotions and things that supposedly lead to happiness, he is a fulfilled human being. Could this argument support the idea that the most fulfilled are indeed strangers to society, and to the world they exist in?
ReplyDeleteI believe Meursault is a human and nothing more. How can Meursault be a stranger? Isn't the word "stranger" just a title for someone that falls under a description? I believe Meursault is Meusault and hasn't chosen to be anything within our society.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that Meursault is a stranger well before his mother died and well before he is incarcerated. Even to his friends, like Celeste, he is somewhat of a stranger because he does not share much about his life with him. With Marie, he is also a stranger because he never truly tells her or admits to himself how he feels about her. His separation from his mother is very similar to his separation from Marie. I completely agree that he is a stranger because he does not value any of his relationships in his life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great analysis and I have not thought about this! I agree with you on him feeling like a stranger, even to himself. He has been a stranger until the very end. Even until the very end, when he was faced with a death penalty, he just accepted the fact and moved on, which is a very unusual behavior of someone who was told that they are going to die in a span of few days to months.
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