Mersault Character

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In Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, a young man named Mersault lives his life differently than the expectations of society and does not seem to see a purpose in life. His character implies that life is meaningless and living just like everyone else in society prevents individuals from discovering the true meaning of life. Camus famously stated: “You will never be able to be happy if you continue to search what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of lie. Most readers of the novel immediately misjudge Mersaults’ character as they begin to read the first paragraph of the novel, which begins with his being informed about his mother’s death and funeral. Due to the fact that Mersaults’ character seems unaffected emotionally by his mother’s death, he is immediately looked negatively by readers. There are possibilities that Mersault reacts this way such as him not seeing the point in life or death. He does not seem to care about anything around him and has not yet discovered the purpose in his life. Mersault’s indifference from the people around him makes him seem like a guilty man under certain circumstances. Because of his carelessness he ends up killing an Arab man for no reason and finding himself in jail. His character does not regret his actions and is immediately seen as a greater victim when the judge and jury hear witnesses testify about how he reacted to the death of his mother. After he is found guilty he spends the last few months of his life locked behind bars and surrounded by nothing but four walls. Camus is conveying that Mersault finally discovers his purpose in life right before it is about to end along with discovering his true self when he is isolated in the jail cell and away... ... middle of paper ... ...hen he was asked a series of questions about the murder he had no opinion or a reasonable answer to why exactly he had killed the man. In addition , the fact that he was not emotionally affected by his mother’s death resulted in all the people in the jury to see him as a guilty man responsible for the death of the Arab. A few witnesses who saw Mersault on the day of his mother’s funeral attend the trial and notify the judge of what they saw the day of the funeral. A caretaker for Mersault’s mother attended the funeral with Mersault. He describes what events took place the day of the funeral such as the fact that he was drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes in the mortuary with Mersault. This immediately changed his image of how he was portrayed by society because it is considered a unordinary act to smoke and have small talk while attending your mother’s funeral.

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