Plunge into The Stranger

Alright, I’m going to lay it down hard. We recently just started The Stranger by Albert Camus and I am loving it. So, my initial reactions to the first chapter of the book are a bit weird so just bear with me. Camus opens up the novel with the line “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This was both shocking yet disturbingly funny to me. Yes funny, I laughed a little. But what I found a bit humorous was that he wasn’t sure which day his mother had died; just disputing it in his head which one it was: today or yesterday. But after that first bout of giggles, it got a bit disturbing at how unfazed this man was by his Maman’s death. Something else that I found really funny was when he started smoking during his mom’s vigil. Thinking about it, it’s not really funny at all—kind of disrespectful if you will. But he thought “it didn’t matter.” (8). I guess his lack of emotion mixed with a bit of stunned disbelief is why I found it so funny. Or maybe I just have a really bizarre sense of humor, who knows.

Reading further into chapter, I noticed how little Meursault seemed affected by the death of his mother. He was just focused on other mundane things going on around him.  I mean, the death of a parent is a pretty big deal, but our main character here just kind of swept it under the rug. I feel like he treated the vigil and funeral as an obligation. And if he didn’t do it, then he would be looked down upon or judged or something. So basically, to this ordinary fella, his mother’s funeral was kind of like jury duty.

 At this point in the book, I’m not sure if Meursault's detachment is a personality trait or if he just feels very little about this event. But I’m kind of getting the vibe that this may just be the type of person he is. I think that he is aware that his reaction to this death is an abnormal one; that he is supposed to be sad. I thought of this because Camus writes:

“We put the cover on, but I’m supposed to unscrew the casket so you can see her.”

He was moving toward the casket when I stopped him.

He said, “You don’t want to?” I answered, “No.” He was quiet, and I was

embarrassed because I felt I shouldn’t have said that.

Meursault recognizes that what he said might not have been the right thing to say in this situation. But a couple of lines later, the caretaker replies “I understand”. I interpreted this as if the caretaker thought seeing his mother dead and never to return again would make him more upset (if he is upset at all). But I think that Meursault just wanted to get quickly finish the funeral so he could go back to his life before it.

Although, in class we also discussed that his lack of emotion to this may just be a part of his grievance process. It’s only the first chapter, so we have no background idea on how this character reacts emotionally in other situations. I think it may be a possibility that this may be his process of accepting that his mother is dead. For instance, he says:

But he probably will day after tomorrow, when he sees I’m in mourning. For now, it’s almost as if Maman weren’t dead. After the funeral, though, the case will be closed, and everything will have a more official feel to it. (3)

Here, Meursault states that Maman dying hasn’t really sunk in yet. And it seems as if he is expecting himself to mourn later on, after the funeral is done and over with. But what I wonder is if it would really make a difference in his life. In the chapter he talks about how he never really saw his Maman because the trip was too long and he didn’t have time for it. So he was already accustomed to not seeing Maman regularly; how would it change with the knowledge that she is now dead?