"Meursault: Change in Character"
“Meursault: Change in Character”
"The man is, indeed, a derelict; he has no intellectual life, no love, no friendship, no interest in anyone or faith in anything. His life is limited to physical sensations and to cheap pleasures of modern mass culture" (Girard 528), Girard says as he speaks about Meursault in The Stranger. Meursault, in Girard’s point of view, obtains the personality of a man that has no interest in anyone or faith in anything. During The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault, the main character, seems uncaring of his mother's death at the beginning of the book. But by the end he becomes caring of his execution day. As Meursault goes through his life, the more he starts to care about his life and the path he’s going down.
During the first portion of the book Meursault comes across as someone who does not care about anyone or anything. On the very first page when he is talking about his mother’s death, Camus shows that Meursault does not care in these three sentences, “Maman died today. Or yesterday. I don’t know” (3). Nathan A. Scott makes the remark about this portion of the book, "the lifeless monotone of the speaker [Meursault] intimates that the issue is of no consequence to him" (34). Saying that Meursault’s monotone voice gives the impression he has no emotion towards his mother’s death, and that he feels no sorrow about it. In the first three sentences of the book, it shows Meursault as an uncaring person. Later once again Meursault’s heartless attitude is shown. While Meursault talks about his relationship between himself and Marie, he says, “She [Marie] asked me if I loved her. I told her it did not mean anything but that I did not think so” (Camus 35). In the time he is with Marie, it seems as if he cares about someone until this line of the book he shows that he does not care.
Meursault does not seem to care most of the book, it seems that he believes changing his life would not make it better. Alice Strange finds that he is
"The man is, indeed, a derelict; he has no intellectual life, no love, no friendship, no interest in anyone or faith in anything. His life is limited to physical sensations and to cheap pleasures of modern mass culture" (Girard 528), Girard says as he speaks about Meursault in The Stranger. Meursault, in Girard’s point of view, obtains the personality of a man that has no interest in anyone or faith in anything. During The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault, the main character, seems uncaring of his mother's death at the beginning of the book. But by the end he becomes caring of his execution day. As Meursault goes through his life, the more he starts to care about his life and the path he’s going down.
During the first portion of the book Meursault comes across as someone who does not care about anyone or anything. On the very first page when he is talking about his mother’s death, Camus shows that Meursault does not care in these three sentences, “Maman died today. Or yesterday. I don’t know” (3). Nathan A. Scott makes the remark about this portion of the book, "the lifeless monotone of the speaker [Meursault] intimates that the issue is of no consequence to him" (34). Saying that Meursault’s monotone voice gives the impression he has no emotion towards his mother’s death, and that he feels no sorrow about it. In the first three sentences of the book, it shows Meursault as an uncaring person. Later once again Meursault’s heartless attitude is shown. While Meursault talks about his relationship between himself and Marie, he says, “She [Marie] asked me if I loved her. I told her it did not mean anything but that I did not think so” (Camus 35). In the time he is with Marie, it seems as if he cares about someone until this line of the book he shows that he does not care.
Meursault does not seem to care most of the book, it seems that he believes changing his life would not make it better. Alice Strange finds that he is