In The Stranger, Camus shows the reader the consequences of having society turn on you versus the benefits of being looked on favorably by society. Camus achieves this through his main character, Meursault, who, at first, is respected by his society, but loses this respect when he does not behave in a fashion that society condones.
Throughout Part One, Camus depicts Meursault as a generally cool dude. The reader sees him pick up Marie, a former acquaintance whom he met on the beach. Camus makes the reader admire the suaveness with which Meursault approaches a possible fling, and it's clear that he's well-versed in the art of flirtation. The way Camus describes the pair swimming, chatting, seeing a movie, going back to Meursault's place, is relatable, if not desirable, from the reader's point of view. The reader sees that Meursault is also tight with Céleste, who owns a restaurant. We see Céleste checking up on Meursault after his mother's death as he serves Meursault food, and it is clear that Meursault is a regular and valued customer. Then, there's Ramon, who, despite the ugly rumors about his reputation, takes a liking to the humble Meursault. Ramon invites him over for dinner, while sharing intimate details of his private life despite just meeting Meursault, and then proceeds to call Meursault his "pal." When Ramon tells Meursault about his beef with an Arab man, Meursault plays along and has his back, filling the role Ramon wants him to play.
From these interactions, plus the way Meursault is greeted by the soccer boys as part of their community, Camus establishes Meursault's place in society. He has close connections with people from around town, plus the natural ability to make them with people (usually women) who interest him. He is well-liked and perceived as normal because he does what is expected of him. In fact, Camus describes in explicit (and sometimes excruciatingly boring) detail Meursault's ordinary, day-to-day actions: going to work, the beach, smoking, having flings, eating food, sitting on the balcony. Although the reader senses something off because we have access to Meursault's apathetic/seemingly-devoid-of-all-feeling-and-opinion mind, Meursault does not physically reveal anything strange. That is, until he commits murder.
Disturbingly, it is not the fact that Meursault committed murder that primarily bothers his community. On the contrary, the victim is not mentioned ONCE in the court room (a fact I find extremely uncomfortable - but I'll save that for another blog post). Rather, it is Meursault's inability to satisfyingly play the role of "troubled murderer" that distances himself from society. And society attempts to help Meursault play the part. His lawyer, for example, continuously mentions Maman's death, in the hopes that Meursault will take the hint and use his grief as justification for a tragic mistake. But Meursault simply responds by saying he "probably did love Maman, but that didn't mean anything." This callous statement leaves the lawyer "slightly disgust[ed]." Meursault even points out that "[the lawyer] didn't understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me." This is what happens with the court as well. After shoving a crucifix under Meursault's nose, giving him every opportunity to show remorse and love for God, they deem him "Monsieur Antichrist" and decide to publicly execute him.
I will note that, thus far, the reader does not have a clear sense of how Meursault's friends think of him after his murder. The examples above could be a reflection on the justice system more than society as a whole. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for the way Meursault is regarded when he caters to the role society wants him to play versus when he reveals his disturbingly honest and true self.
To respond to your thoughts about the justice system/society as depicted in The Stranger, I also am super uncomfortable with the way they didn't mention the victim and how it appeared that his crime was more not feeling sad after his mother died. It shows the corrupted morality of the society in which Camus lived, where people would be killed for arbitrary reasons. To Meursault, his execution sentence seems arbitrary, and, to us, the justice systems' focus on Meursault's lack of grief feels out of place.
ReplyDeleteSomething that struck me while reading The Stranger was how Meursault's attitude during the trial was very similar to what society would think of someone who is capable of murder. He was very quiet during his actual trial, not really taking a defensive side, and then later he snapped at the priest. When looked at from someone from the outside watching this trial, this definitely seems like the attitude of a mentally unstable person who just kills for fun. Society expects (or maybe hopes) to see a murderer who is remorseful for his actions and has a good reason for why he committed murder. When we read the book with Meursault's perspective in mind we realize that there is a bit more to his story and that Meursault's problems go deeper than just his state at the trial.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very interesting that the court is so interested in the connection with his mother's death even though that wasn't as prominent to many of his friends. We see many scenes early on when Meursault moves on with his life and his friends are a little taken aback that he isn't more sad about his mother. However, they all almost immediately accept his view and move on. Marie questions him about it and is initially surprised that he has moved on so quickly but doesn't object. This is sharply contrasted by the court, which focuses intently on the connection between the murder and his mother's death.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this blog post I was reminded of how I made myself analyze Mersault and his court case. I kept having to switch perspectives, sometimes reading as a supporter of Mersault and othertimes as a part of court who isn't familiar with Mersault's thoughts. The way in which the court and his lawyer were questioning his inability to reason for his actions irked me, and I think that the reason why I felt sympathy for Mersault was because he stayed true to himself throughout the story - it was just that in Part II he was given the opportunity, in response to the interrogations of the court, to display his true self.
ReplyDeleteI think it is an interesting thought that we don't know how Marie or Raymond or the restaurant dude view Meursault after the murder. Considering Marie still comes to the prison and doesn't treat him any differently, it seems like one could assume the others don't view him differently either. This once again connects to the whole thing of the murder being rather insignificant in the eyes of nearly all the characters.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the book (before the trial took place), all his daily activities seemed pretty normal, but there was something odd beneath surface. His indifference was a little bit disturbing to me and I think it climaxed when Meursault murdered the Arab. In the trial, I sympathized with Meursault because I felt as if the court was attacking his personal philosophy, rather than the crime. I felt as if they just wanted to squash his nihilist thinking because it was seen as a threat to society in a way.
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