How Is Meursault A Misunderstood Character

In the book The Stranger, by Albert Camus, Meursault is a commonly misunderstood character due to his inhumanities. He does not emote in the same way that most people do, and seems to have an extremely careless attitude towards the things going on around him. In the beginning of the story, we learn that Meursault’s mother has just passed away, and yet Meursault does not show any signs of grief. Another time when Meursault’s abnormalities become lucid is when he is speaking to his girlfriend, Marie, and has a very passive approach to the idea of marriage, which to most people is a major, life-altering decision. Many people say that through the course of the story, in the second half, Meursault’s character develops and he learns how to truly
Meursault begins the story by telling the reader that Maman had passed away, however he does it in a very casual way by saying: “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (3). By saying “I don’t know” (3), Meursault makes it seem as if he doesn’t really care, and also suggests that he is not very involved in his mother’s life, because he is not even sure of the date she passed away. Not only does the reader judge Meursault right from the start, due to his uncertainty about the date of Maman’s death, but throughout the story it is shown that other characters around him judge him for it too. The combination of his indifference and his lack of emotion cause the people around him to question him, and almost not know how to respond when he tells them about her death, because it is hard for them to feel sorry for someone who doesn’t even seem to feel sorry for themselves; “I told [Marie] Maman had died. She wanted to know how long ago, so I said, ‘Yesterday.’ She gave a little start but didn’t say anything” (20). Another time when we see people judging him for his carelessness over his loss is when he is in jail in the second part of the story. While in court, he was questioned multiple times about the death of his mother, because it seemed too strange that he had gotten over it so quickly; “He asked if I had felt any sadness that
Meursault introduces Marie to the story in a rather casual way, by saying that she is “a former typist in our office whom I’d had a thing for at the time” (19). However, not long after, they seem to be in a very serious relationship, and it seems as if they have known eachother for years, so it is curious that they supposedly had not seen each other since the time that they used to work together. Marie and Meursault seem to have a very physical relationship, and we rarely really see them connect on an emotional level with each other. This could be one reason why Meursault is never able to share his feeling towards her with her, because maybe he is only attracted to her physically, and not on a more personal level; “A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so. She looked sad” (35). Meursault uses nearly this exact same line when he is speaking of Maman; “I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything” (65), which could possibly show that he really is not capable of loving, since he can not even admit that he feels love for his mother. Maybe it is not only that Meursault can’t express his feelings, but maybe he really does not have feeling the way that most people do. Later on in the story, Marie “came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry