When Did Meursault Become so Indifferent?
One of the most interesting parts of The Stranger is Meursault’s extremely
strange personality that is shown throughout part one and much of part two.
Meursault seems to be completely indifferent to events that should evoke very
emotional responses from normal people. Not only that, but his “none of it
matters” attitude make him a very drone-like character that only takes actions
based on others- he always chooses the path of least resistance when faced with
a problem.
So,
when did Meursualt become this way? Visualizing a young Meursault with the same
strange behavior, or Meursalt living with Maman seems very strange, although it
is certainly possible.
There
are three likely possibilities: Meursault was born this way, the change
happened after school when he “lost his ambition”, or the change happened after
Maman’s death. As previously mentioned, the first theory is very strange to
imagine, but I tried to find other evidence that would suggest that he was born
with his strange behavior. As we discussed in class, Meursalt has many traits
of a psychopath- for example, he shows no remorse in killing the Arab. I did a
little research on whether or not a
person is born with psychopathy, and the answers were very conflicting.
However, the most common theory is that psychopathy is brought about both by
genetics and the person’s environment. Perhaps this was true in the case of
Meursault, but there isn’t any information in the book that suggests this. If
anything, it seems he was more normal in his younger years, relating to the
second theory- Meursault says "When I was a student, I had a lot of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered" (Camus 41). We don't see any ambition from Meursault throughout part one, making this theory very plausible. On the other hand, I'm quite skeptical of this theory because having to leave school shouldn't turn a normal person into someone who shows no remorse for murder.
As for the last theory, that Meursault's behavior changed when Maman died, I find it very unlikely. He seems very unaffected by his mother's death, as he dozed off at her funeral. While it can be argued that Meursault's reaction to his mother's death was shock, that makes little sense as he keeps this behavior for months, and is more disinterested in her death than shocked.
Personally, I think Meursault was born the way he is. What do you think?
Great post! The line where Meursault thinks "When I was a student, I had a lot of ambitions like that" really intrigued me. I think having to leave school is part of the larger shift Meursault went through in his life during that time. Perhaps he was never 'normal', but I hypothesize that that's around the time that his philosophy and attitude about life begins to solidify. As for why - well, we don't know. Why does anyone believe in absurdism? I suppose it was a philosophy that appealed to him, for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteTo me, I feel like it was a combination of his early life, school, and his mother. From the book, we learned that his father had died before he was born. Being raised without a father probably had a huge impact on him by making him closer to his mother and having one less parental figure, shifting his personality. But then he went to college, and I infer, a place where he learned that everything was for nothing and became more indifferent. Then his mom die, someone that he said he did love, and that's where we get the start of Meursault's story. It's a combination of these three things that shaped Meursault's personality.
ReplyDeleteA "drone" is a good description of Meursault.
ReplyDeleteI kinda doubt a person could be genetically predisposed to precisely as much disillusionment with the world as Meursault has. I definitely think there's been events that have broken his ability to become excited with regard to the future, or even the present. I wish the novel explored how Meursault got to be where he is now. Maybe he'd make more sense as a real person and not just a character.
I think the role of his paternal father probably played a large role in his lack of emotion. He doesn't show that much emotion regarding his mother throughout the story, and although it could be attributed to a traumatic experience or something during his childhood, I think that his inability to feel didn't really come from his mother. Perhaps his father died or something during his childhood, and they had a close relationship? It would explain his lack of ambition; maybe his father was the figure driving him to be successful, and his death shattered his previously normal mentality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert that the role of the father was most likely profound. Although not directly mentioned, there are parallels and hints of Mersault's father. Additionally at the funeral of Maman, he is largely indifferent. He likely already experienced something similar with his father. After experiencing his first crushing sadness when he was still innocent, he became colder as a human being. This may explain his lack of meaningful human connections and him being able to spend hours alone. Therefore, I think that even though it wasn't explicitly stated, his father's role was most likely significant in Mersault's character and his future actions that would ultimately lead to his death.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting point to bring up! As you pointed out, the only real insight we get into Meursault's past or how he was when he was younger is his comment about his studies. I agree with you that Meursault was born at least partially how we see him, but I think there's a good chance that Meursault has become "worse" over the years, his indifference growing or becoming more pronounced. We see that Meursault is very affected by his surroundings, so I theorize that in a different environment Meursault might have acted differently. Great point, made me think!
ReplyDeleteMeursault's indifference is very interesting to consider. Personally, I think it's disassociation, perhaps brought on by other mental illness that we don't get to see. I agree that Meursault probably wasn't born with his strangeness, but I think that it's a combination of both giving up on his studies and his mother's death. Often, people who disassociate already tend to fall further into apathy during a crisis, although they usually seem to end up breaking down at some point, which we don't see with Meursault. I think it'd be cool if Camus addressed this, but the mystery of Meursault's apathy plays a hand in constructing Camus' absurdist philosophy.
ReplyDeleteI think that Meursault may have multiple issues going on that we don't really get a glimpse at. Often times when someone has his level of disassociation from the world they are dealing with many things. I think he may have had a troubled youth and that caused him to shift and change into the way he is now. I'm assuming his childhood was off because of the way he talks about his mother and the fact that his father is never mentioned. Overall, I don't think Meursault was born this way, rather his environment and maybe other factors pushed him to it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Meursault is a product of his upbringing, as well as a mix of mental illness. This indifference is rather interesting. He seems to act very logical, and pays more attention to physical things rather than emotional things. I think this is a major sign of Mental disorder. During this time period, Mental disorders were pretty much ignored because doctors did not know much about them. It makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI think that your three explanations are an effective way of trying to gain insight into the way that Camus wrote his character. I think that, at least from what we see of Meursault, that he has had this outlook and demeanor for his whole life. The indifference is very deep seeded and is hard for me to believe was just picked up at some point, there has to be a more complex answer than that.
ReplyDelete