Meursault's Irrationality In 'L Etranger'

In L’Etranger, Camus uses Meursault to explore his central themes of the irrationality of the universe and the meaninglessness of life. These themes are interwoven throughout Meursault’s growth as a character, and through his development, the reader is able to understand Camus’ principle of the absurd. This is the belief that mankind’s attempts to understand the universe and discover meaning are futile; man cannot hope to understand or reason with the universe – one must accept it as it is. Only when one accepts this and the inevitability of death can the value of life be assessed. This is what happens to Meursault: from the outset, he is seen as an individual with an irregular personality (that is to say, he is devoid of emotion), then a change
In the opening paragraph, the reader bears witness to the ambiguity surrounding Meursault’s mother as a result of him not caring to know: “Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas.”
Camus deliberately sends the reader into a fluster within the opening lines in order to indicate that Meursault whom they will soon become familiar with is one that is unsure of not only what he should know for certain, but also (initially) unsure of himself. At this stage in the novel, Meursault has not yet been confronted with the truth of the absurd, therefore the reader is able to observe him in his state of pre-absurdism.
After the funeral, Meursault continues on with his life as if nothing had happened; this causes confusion among those around him as they, too, struggle to understand how Meursault thinks the way he does. For example, the day after the funeral, Meursault meets Marie whom he flirts with, yet when she discovers his mother was buried only the day before, she immediately shies away – as any rational, emotional being would do. Meursault, as we have seen before, reacts awkwardly to this, since he thinks entirely differently to everyone
This is when Meursault is first seen to develop, as he begins to comprehend the irrationality of the universe and the fact that he cannot explain or justify his mother’s passing.
The reader then witnesses Meursault’s acceptance of the meaninglessness of life as Marie asks to marry him:
“Le soir, Marie est venue me chercher et m'a demandé si je voulais me marier avec elle. J'ai dit que cela m'était égal et que nous pourrions le faire si elle le voulait.”
Meursault says that he doesn’t mind, introducing the reader to his mindset of his actions having no significance. He does not care for either a yes or a no response because he sees both as having the same conclusion: irrelevance. He even admits that he doesn’t see marriage as a serious matter, clearly highlighting to Marie and the reader that he sees his choices and his life as having no real importance.
This same attitude can be seen again at the definitive moment in the novel which occurs at the end of the first part of the novel in the extreme heat on the beach when Meursault and Raymond encounter the two