A Character Analysis of Mersault in the Stranger

The stranger is a novel by Albert Camus. His story revolves around Meursault as the main character. In this novel, Albert Camus uses the first persona where the character Meursault uses ‘1’ to express himself, his emotions and how he thinks about people. In this novel, Meursault is notified about his mother’s death by telegram, On the reception of this news, Meursault plans his way home to attend his mother’s burial. On the day of the burial, Meursault’s moods cannot be linked to mourning the death of his mothert Later after, he is involved in a feud between the families of his neighbor’s girlfriend, Meursault is involved in murder where he kills an Arab of the family of his neighbor‘s girlfriend.

His neighbor’s name is Raymond.  This novel manifests the subject Meursault as someone who lacks emotions and someone who cares less for people close to him This is publicly manifested by the fact that he attended his mother’s burial and never shed a tear. He was also involved with the murder of the Arab, a member of Raymond’s girlfriend’s family.

On the occasion of the shooting, he meets the Arab on the beach where he shoots him once. After the shot, he continues to fire four more shots on the Arab’s corpse. This is why the prosecutor in Meursault’s case when Meursault is taken to court quotes, “Especially when the emptiness of a man‘s heart becomes, as it has in this man, an abyss threatening to swallow up society,” The quote means that the character Meursault has become uncontrollable and has no value in the society considering his inhumane nature and character.

Is Meursault really a Monster? In answer to this question, I can really concur with the statement Meursault is really a monster. In support to this statement, certain events can be extracted from the novel to prove this. Meursault never showed emotions nor did he drop a tear on the day of his mother’s burialt On the same day, he was reported to be drinking coffee and smoking. When asked if he was interested to View his mother‘s body, he says no, claiming that he wasn’t interested.

This act defines him as a monster considering his mother is the one who gave birth to him and brought him up, at least he should have paid her some last respecti Could his heart really swallow up society?

Yes, eventually, he was a bad role model and some children could have enumerated his character. He could also have influenced his friends to develop the same character which could have been suicidal to the welfare of the society He had too many negative issues to the point where nothing positive could come out of him, This being said, it is fair to conclude that Meursault was really a monster in the making that could swallow up the whole society.

When the prosecutor says “ I have had occasion to call for the death penalty, never as strongly as today have I felt this painful duty made easier, lighter, clearer by certain knowledge of a sacred imperative and horror I feel when I look into a man‘s face and all I see is a monster”, he means that he has no option but to sentence the subject Meursault to death penalty owing to his monstrous nature. My reaction to this passage is that I concur with the prosecutor’s judgement and can Closely evaluate the character of Meursault as similar to that of a heartless beast. In conclusion, I tend to agree that Meursault got justice for how he treated his family, friends and the society at larger.

  Reference

1. Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward The Strangeri New York: Vintage International, 1989, Print

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