The prose style by the author of The Stranger, Albert Camus, is reflected in the description of the main character, Meursault

by sortiz7 (student)

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Guillermo Ortiz

FORL 100W

Essay #2

The creation of a criminal

The prose style by the author of The Stranger, Albert Camus, is reflected in the description of the main character, Meurasault. Throughout the book, Meursault does not show any emotions. The sentences in this chapter are very concise and consist of simple action verbs. The past tense is primarily used and there are some lines of dialogue in the book. This makes the reader to pay a closer attention to this dialogue. An example of this dialogue is when the character Meursault makes the first statement in quotes. “It’s not my fault.” (Camus 3). Meursault makes this remark in response to the death of his moth. He is upset that the death makes him miss work and it is not his fault at all. This sentence also shows the lack of emotion Meursault has in response to his mother’s death.

The first part of the book is about the day of Meursault’s mother’s funeral. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home. ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.”’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday”(Camus 3). Meursault received bad news that his mother had died, however, his reaction to the news makes it sound like it does not matter much to him. Later on in the chapter Meursault makes the readers furious with his indifference as a son. Not shedding any tears on behalf of the death of his mother and did not carrying when and why she passed away. In the funeral the son felt seemed to feel more affected by the sun then by his mother’s passing.

The first part of the book also chronicles Mersault’s daily life on a regular Saturday and Sunday. Camus allows us to see how Meursault’s ordinary days are as compared to the funeral. The tone in this part of the chapter is very similar than the last part. This is very important for the reader because it sends a message about how Camus’ tone of monotony and indifference. After observing that Meursault is indifferent to the death of his own mother it becomes clear that he is also indifferent to his own life. Nothing in life seems to have a clear ...

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Meursault does not take the death of his mother as an emotional experience. This event scared Marie, who is a girl he met on the beach and she is also surprised by the indifference that shown by the recent lost. It is disrespectful to his mother that after his mother passed away they went to watch a comedy movie. There comes a time in the reading that portrays Meursault as being sad. He begins discussing how his apartment is too big for him. It was perfect when he was living with his mother. Now he is alone. For a moment it makes the readers think that he is having some emotions related to the event, but then it becomes apparent that he is just bored and lonely.

Another passage that grabs my attention is when the dog and he have a love-hate relationship. This relationship is very similar that he has with Marie. They have a tormented relationship. Marie asks him to marry her. Even though she knows that he does not love her, but still she wants to marry him. Marie suffers because she knows it will never be true love between them.

In the second part of the book is when life gets complicated for Meursault and he shoots an Arab. In a fight Arabs attack Meussault and his friends. It looks as though he is defending himself from the Arab attack, but upon closer examination it becomes clear that he is trying to kill the Arab because he shoots him four times. It also appears that Meursault had no motive for shooting the man. He was put on trial for murder. In court the prosecutor calls him monster and asks the judge to be sentenced to death. After about forty-five minutes of deliberation the verdict is read. Meursault is found guilty and sentenced to death. Nobody can believe that he is being sentenced to death. Everyone thinks it was going to be an easy case. This makes people think that maybe he is being punished for be indifferent to “Maman” death.

This sentenced given makes Meursault understand life better. “Meursault seems to be having an internal battle whereby he is trying to reconcile his life, philosophy, and beliefs with his inevitable execution” (Delahoyde, “Camus, The Stranger”). He is confronting death but by doing it he finds peace. Before his execution he feels at peace and with courage. He is ready to die because he feels as though he probably he deserves it. He seems to be someone else and in this short instance he is appreciating what is life. Meursault knows he did wrong and must pay for his actions. It is probably is too late for regret but for God it is never too late. Also he knows that no one should cry at his mother’s funeral. He feels vindicated by the moral crime the committed.