Is Meursault an absurd hero? Is he a moral monster? Is he a rebel against a conventional morality?

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Is Meursault an absurd hero? Is he a moral monster? Is he a rebel against a conventional morality?

In order to understand Meursault's rebellion we must first understand the nature of his personality as portrayed by Camus. The novel begins with the laconic assertion "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure." His mother's death briefly interrupts the pleasant flow of Meursault's life, a life devoted to appreciating sensation. He loves the feel of a crisp towel in the washroom. He enjoys eating, drinking, and smoking cigarettes. He loves to watch the sea and the sky. Swimming and making love to pretty girls like Marie are his favourite pastimes, so much so that an offer of a job promotion in Paris does not in the least appeal to him. When something bores him or distresses him he simply goes to sleep, as he does on the bus to his mother's funeral and even in jail. He is a detached observer of life. Symbolic of this quality is the Sunday he spends watching the ebb and flow of life in his neighbourhood from his apartment window. Camus describes in detail the street scenes yet never does Meursault become involved in them. Meursault is distant from the messiness of plans, ambitions, desires, hatreds, even love. Marie's protestations of love only puzzle him. When she asks him if he wishes to marry her he agrees only because he sees no real reason to refuse. He helps in Raymond's nefarious schemes for equally bland reasons, and also because Raymond plies him with food, drink, and cigarettes. He is even distant from his own trial. It interests him because he has never seen a trial before.

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Albert Camus is a very hard man to figure out. He puts very complex thoughts and emotions into his writings, and you have to draw them out strategically. His thoughts of how everyday people live and think are genuine and you can see that in

The Stranger is the story of Patrice Meursault, a young bachelor growing up in French Algeria. In many ways, he lives a normal life for single man in his twenties: working as a clerk in an office; hanging out with the various local characters, and picking up girls at the local swimming ...

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