In The Stranger, Albert Camus portrays the main character of the novel, Meursault, as a largely apathetic character.  Right from the beginning of the novel, when his mother passes away, something most people would think of as extremely tragic, his apathetic attitude is made apparent. This attitude continues throughout the novel, and can be clearly seen in Meursault’s interactions with the other characters. One such interaction is between him and Marie, when she attempts to talk to him about marriage. The most prominent example of Meursault’s apathy, however, is seen when he kills the Arab. This apathetic attitude of Meursault’s persists throughout the novel, and is apparent in his relationships with strangers, to his romantic relationships, all the way through to his relationships with his immediate family.

        Right from the first two sentences of the novel, Camus already paints readers a picture of Meursault as being apathetic. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (Camus 3). The fact that he talks about his mother’s death so nonchalantly is an obvious expression of his apathetic nature. While it is true that Meursault sincerely does not know the details of his mother’s death, for all that was said in the “telegram from the home” (Camus 3) was “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow” (Camus 3).  Because of this, one would assume that Meursault would be having racing thoughts of what the circumstances were surrounding Maman’s death. This is not the case, though, as his first thoughts are how he will “take the two o’clock bus and get there in the afternoon. That way [he] can be there for the vigil and come back tomorrow night” (Camus 3). The fact that his first worry is being aback home as soon as possible is a clear insight into his apathetic nature.

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        Once Meursault gets to the funeral home and talks to the director, his apathy continues to show and it becomes apparent to readers that he was apathetic to his mother even while she was alive, as he says to the direction, “ …I didn’t go [to visit Maman] much this past year… It took up my Sunday – not to mention the trouble of getting to this bus, buying tickets, and spending two hours traveling” (Camus 5). Then, as the director continues to talk to him, Meursault admits that he “wasn’t really listening anymore” (Camus 5). It appears as if ...

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