Mersault Cares Nothing of Death

Reading The Stranger, one reoccurring theme is Meursault's attitude throughout the book. He seems to be void of feeling, or a moral compass. In class we have discussed this idea many times. But something we haven't discussed is the possibility that to Meursault, death specifically, doesn't mean anything to him. 

In the opening of the novel, we see Meursault's reaction to his mother’s death. He immediately doesn’t show that much emotion for his mother at the time. “The director then looked down at the tips of his shoes and said that I hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that I hadn’t cried once, and that I had left right after the funeral without paying my last respects at her grave.” Many people in class concluded that this was just a way that Meursault responded to grief. Even Meursault himself said that he was in grieving. Others said that Meursault was lacking of feeling or emotion. In their opinion Meursault was very indifferent to life in general. I believe that his very removed, and emotionless reaction to his mother’s death was not related to his relationship with her, his response to grief, or indifference. I believe it was an example that showed Meursault is not affected in any way by the effects of death.

          Later in the novel, we reach the intense scene between Meursault and the Arab man. “Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.” After the man is dead, this is the last we hear of him. Now I definitely agree that a big part of this is a reflection of the racism during this time. But I also think it is more than that. Meursault’s focus on this time was being in jail and not being able to do the things he liked to do. We readers are reading this through Meursault’s perspective, and he had absolutely no thoughts or reaction to the actual death of this man.

          Finally, near the end of the novel, Meursault is sentenced to death. He is struck by the manner in which he must be executed. But when the preacher begs him to pray to the lord for forgiveness, we can see that Meursault has no desire for the afterlife. “The chaplain knew the game well too, I could tell right away: his gaze never faltered. And his voice didn't falter, either, when he said, "Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?" "Yes," I said.” Meursault may not have wanted to die by the guillotine, but death itself wasn’t really concerning to him. He wanted nothing to with the ideas of afterlife whether they concerned heaven or hell. In general, Meursault did not care about dying.

          With the information I’ve read from the Stranger, it seems that Meursault believed in life. His typical daily life though seemingly dull to readers, was good enough for him. But his reaction to death, stayed consistent. No matter his relationship to a death, whether it be his mother, the Arab man, or himself, death was inevitable and therefore, essentially meaningless to him. To him death only represented a house with more space, a crime that put him in the system, and an escape from the rest of life.