Table of Contents
What does Meursault care about?
Meursault’s character appears to be that of an individual who is indifferent to the world. His only care is to satisfy his own needs. In Albert Camus’s ‘The Stranger,’ Mersault does care about others; he just shows it in a different manner.
What are Meursault’s morals?
Meursault is neither moral nor immoral. Rather, he is amoral—he simply does not make the distinction between good and bad in his own mind.
What makes Meursault happy?
As opposed to earlier in the novel, when Meursault was passively content at best, here Meursault finds that he is actively happy once he opens himself to the reality of human existence. Meursault finds that he is also happy with his position in society. He does not mind being a loathed criminal.
What does Meursault want in the stranger?
He hasn’t yet wished for the large crowd of spectators. He knows he could—he knows this is the next step, but he doesn’t do it yet. One of the major points of The Stranger isn’t Meursault suddenly wanting people around—the point is his newfound knowledge, his awareness, and his consciousness.
Why is Meursault condemned?
In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is condemned to death for killing an Arab. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster is condemned to rejection by humanity, vowing vengeance against his creator as a result.
Why does Marie like Meursault?
She is attracted to Meursault because he enjoys many things that she does and also because he is a little “different.” When Meursault agrees to marry her, Marie is happy. Like Meursault, she does not demand much from life or from other people.
Why is Meursault a nihilist?
Meursault is a nihilist because he places no value in his life or the lives of others, and lives emotionally detached from the world. Meursault’s amorality stems from the lack of value he places on his own life — and by consequence, the lives of those around him.
Why is Meursault a threat to society?
Meursault is a threat to society because has proved himself to be capable of murder; plain and simple. In other words, he is a threat because he killed a man. But he is tried as much for his philosophical perspective as he is for his actual crime. This is the absurd irony of his situation.
How does Meursault find meaning in life?
Meursault does not have any meaning in life and no understanding of the meaning in other lives around him. The only certainty that Meursault has and holds onto is that everyone eventually dies. It comforts him to know this due to the fact that he at least knows how and when he is going to die.
Why is Meursault indifferent?
Meursault’s emotional indifference contributes to his general passivity. Lacking goals and desires of his own, Meursault rarely seems to care how events turn out and acts simply to satisfy his immediate physical needs, allowing his life to flow by as it will.
Why was Meursault given death?
Reminding the jury that the next trial on the court’s schedule involves parricide (the murder of a close relative), the prosecutor alleges that Meursault’s lack of grief over his mother’s death threatens the moral basis of society. Meursault is found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to death by guillotine.
What does Meursault think of guillotine?
What does Meursault think about the guillotine? It kills “effortlessly and evocatively.” It will hurt “with the force of a thousand suns.”
Why does Meursault care about Marie so much?
Meursault cares about himself and enjoying himself, and Marie makes him happy, so he makes her happy so she’ll stick around even though he doesn’t necessarily love her. He does these things to keep her around because it benefits him. “Anyway, after that, remembering Marie meant nothing to me.
What is Meursault’s attitude toward the world?
At the novel’s outset, Meursault’s indifference seems to apply solely to his understanding of himself. Aside from his atheism, Meursault makes few assumptions about the nature of the world around him. However, his thinking begins to broaden once he is sentenced to death.
Does Meursault place any value judgment on his act?
He does not place any value judgment on his act, and writes the letter mainly because he has the time and the ability to do so. At the novel’s outset, Meursault’s indifference seems to apply solely to his understanding of himself.
Is Meursault morally immoral?
At his trial, the fact that he had no reaction to his mother’s death damages his reputation far more than his taking of another person’s life. Meursault is neither moral nor immoral.