The Character of Meursault in The Outsider, by Albert Camus

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Meursault had an indifferent, nonchalant demeanour. The setting of the novel prevails in Algiers after the invasion of the French. Since the novel was written post World War I, the political tension and fear in the society is vividly visible. Meursault was drastically different from the narrow minded people who alienated him. Since the society had been colonized by the French, it was vulnerable, destabilized and wary of threats, Meursault was unaccepted by them.

Meursault, the protagonist and narrator is a stoic and detached figure. His indifferencee towards family and society was apparent in his reaction to his mother’s death, relationship with his lover and the cold-blooded murder of the Arab.

In the case of his mother, he showed no sense of attachment, “After the funeral, though, the case will be closed and everything will have a more official feel to it” (Albert Camus, The Outsider, Page 1). He was relentless and continued to remain detached from her as he avoided meeting her at the old age home over the weekends. The only time he took the effort to visit her was when she passed away. The visit to his dead mother also seemed inappropriate to him as he contemplated in the bus, how he could have made that day more productive and interesting. The passing away of his mother seemed so irrelevant that he had no recollection of the day of her death.

Meursault killed the Arab and had no resentment of this heinous act he had just committed. As he killed the Arab he displayed no sense of horror or guilt. Meursault heartlessly continued to shoot the Arab’s cold corpse – regardless of his behaviour, he refused to show any sign of grief, “Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a ...

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... Meursault does not bother about other people’s actions. Compared to that of his society, Meursault’s actions are unconventional and thus, make him more of an ‘outsider’ or a ‘stranger’ to the society.

Clearly, Meursault is different from the people of his time and age and it is this among the many differences that mainly lead to his execution. The unwavering opinion of the judge against Meursault is reflective of the people then. These people were intolerant and scared of the truth. They were extremely narrow minded. Hence, they were scared of Meursault who was brutally honest all the way, which is why he was mistaken to be a threat to society. To get rid of this threat, they (through the judge) executed an exception to save the society from the change of beliefs.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert, and Joseph Laredo. The Outsider. London: Penguin, 2000. Print.

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