Albert Calmus' the Stranger Analysis

Running head: HOME READING ASSIGNMENT #2 1 The Stranger by Albert Camus 1. Meursault is locked into the routine of daily existence; his life is a shapeless void without ideas, preferences, goals, or emotions. Like a robot, Meursault responds to everything automatically, neither feeling nor caring. When he is offered a job transfer to Paris, Meursault says he does not care where he works; yet he does not go because moving would be too much trouble. His mother’s death is met with similar lack of response: he feels no despair or grief. Occasionally, Meursault lacks motivation to do anything, so he spends the day sitting at his bedroom window, smoking cigarettes more out of habit than desire. Although Meursault is largely unaffected by the world around him, his isolation doesn’t stem from a conscious intention to withdraw. He merely drifts along without purpose, never facing or even avoiding a challenge. Life is not worth the trouble of making decisions, and Meursault remains committed to nothing. When he went to see his mother’s corpse at the home, he smoked in front of her corpse which shows his lack of care. “Then I felt like having a smoke but I hesitated, because I didn’t know if I could do it with maman right here. I thought about it; it didn’t matter, I offered the caretaker a cigarette and we smoked”. (Camus, 1988) 2. Like Meursault, Marie likes physical contact. She kisses Meursault often in public and enjoys sex. But, unlike Meursault’s physical affection for Marie, Marie’s physical
HOME READING ASSIGNMENT #2 2

affection for Meursault shows a deeper emotional attachment. Though Marie is disappointed when Meursault expresses his view toward love and marriage, she does not end the relationship or reconsider her desire to marry him. In fact, Meursault’s strange behavior seems attract her to him more. She says that she probably loves him because he is so different. She enjoys a good deal