This opening paragraph clearly shows how Meursault is indifferent and how it doesn’t matter when his mother died and technically it doesn’t matter either. As referred to in Web MD “Adults with Asperger’s may have trouble showing definite emotions and will usually come off as indifferent or rude.” Although Meursault doesn’t necessarily come off as a rude individual he is often seen as an indifferent person. Another example of Meursault’s indifference is found on page thirty-five when Marie asks Meursault if he loves her and he says, “ It doesn’t mean anything but I don’t think so.” That statement represents indifference in that a topic as big as love means just about the same to him as everything else, and ultimately he thinks it doesn’t mean anything either. Meursault’s indifference doesn’t only make him a confusing character but possibly a character we sympathize with due to a mental condition called Asperger’s.
Secondly Meursault has an abnormal fixation with the physical world and he is often describing in great detail all the physical aspects of his life. On page forty-nine in The Stranger, Meursault begins to describe his walk to the beach and the reader begins to picture almost perfectly what Meursault is illustrating.
“Marie was having fun scattering the petals, taking big swipes at them with her oilcloth bag. We walked between rows of small houses behind green or white fences, some with their verandas hidden behind the tamarisks, others standing naked among the rocks.”
That passage clearly shows how Meursault had highly focused on the physical world. We also see his focus on the physical world on page eighty-five when he gets into great detail about one of the reporters. He remembers his exact clothes and his facial features. “A sign to look for in adults, he or she may become preoccupied with the physicality of things or may be completely consumed in one topic such as space, science, or dinosaurs.”(Asperger’s 1) Meursault most definitely shows this sign of Asperger’s with his fixation in the physical world therefore making him an ordinary person with a minor setback.
Meursault doesn’t only have trouble showing his emotions but he lacks empathy. On page fifty-nine we are presented with flawless details of the beach, the sun, and the sea, but when he actually kills a man he states, “The trigger gave; I felt the smooth underside of the butt; and there, in that noise, sharp and deafening at the same time, is where it all started. I shook of the sweat and sun. I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, he exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” This passage shows Meursault as an apathetic person, which is also shown throughout most of the novel. As medical evidence shows “A person with Asperger’s may appear to lack empathy.”(Asperger’s 1) Not only does Meursault’s apathetic nature hurt him in the real world but it also plays a role when it comes to his social skills. His apathetic nature hurts him socially when he tells Marie he will marry her if she wants. This shows that Meursault has trouble feeling how Marie feels when she is told by her boyfriend that he’ll marry her if she wants, therefore his lack of empathy also hurts him socially. Meursault’s lack of empathy and his social barriers are further signs that he’s not just a normal character in the world but a stranger due to his mental condition of Asperger’s.
A major sign of Asperger’s Syndrome as stated in Web MD is that a person may “have heightened sensitivity to light, heat, sound, or textures and therefore my become over simulated by them.” While reading The Stranger the audience suddenly begins to realize Meursault’s sensitivity to the sun, and how in the end this sensitivity over simulates him so greatly he kills a man. We start to realize Meursault’s sensitivity when he is attending his mother’s vigil and the sun is shining down though the glass and annoying him. We also realize it on page fifty-two, when he recognizes the sun and it’s glare on the water and how it becomes unbearable. The audience also realizes Meursault’s sensitivity to the sun when he depicts a violent image of the sun on the beach and how it’s killing his head. Meursault even goes as far as to say that the trigger on the gun gave all due to the sun, this shows the audience how much Meursault is actually bothered by the sun. These statements by Meursault just further lead the audience to believe that Meursault shows abnormal characteristic of a person, and would be more understood if everyone knew the reasoning behind is bizarre actions.
In many situations Meursault is seen as a man who is apathetic, indifferent man who has a strange fixation on the physical world along with a heightened sensitivity to heat and light. He is seen as a stranger in his society and is misunderstood by many people. Even though Meursault has trouble socially and emotionally there is an explanation behind his action. Ultimately Meursault is named as a monster and a danger to society due to his apathetic nature and indifference. This is absolutely unfair because society shouldn’t walk away from people with mental setbacks, but rather walk towards them to help them. Meursault character greatly relates with that of a person with Asperger’s syndrome and when the audience realizes this they have a greater understanding of him and begin to sympathize with his character. In the end we begin to understand that just because a person is different and difficult to understand does not mean they are a bad person rather it gives us motivation to help them. Meursault was unfairly seen, as a dreadful character when throughout the novel the audience should have been sympathizing with him as if he had the minor setback such as Asperger’s.
BIBLOGRAPHY
"Asperger's Syndrome-Symptoms." WebMD - Better information. Better health N.p n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-symptoms>.
