Word Choices

"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." 

The first couple sentences of the stranger sets the tone for the whole book. From these two sentences we can already see the difference between the main character, Meursault, from ordinary people. Throughout all of chapter one he is extremely stoic with the news of his mother's death. In fact, his greatest concern in the whole chapter seems to be that his employer is upset with him for taking of work to go to his mother's funeral, rather than the fact that his mother is dead. He doesn't seem to realize this though. He thinks that his mother's death hasn't sunken in yet rather than the fact that he just doesn't care.

This aloof attitude reminds throughout all of part one. When his boss offers him a job in Paris, his response is indifferent. When Marie asks if he wants to marry her he says he she wants him to he will. It seems as though Mersault never makes an actual decision in the story. He takes whatever falls into his lap. Regardless of the fact that these are life altering decisions, such as his career and marriage, he treats it as though someone was asking him what he wanted for dinner rather than what he wants out of his life.