The Stranger Essay First Body

The introduction of the novel essentially opens up with Meursault discovering that his mother has passed away in her home. However, even this soon in the novel we see that Meursault is conveyed as a much simpler, and in some ways a very detached character from the society and people that surround him. This detachment was explicitly noted when Mearsault firstly could not remember the day that his own mother passed away. Oddly though it probably would have been extremely easy for Mearsault to remember the day, but it seems like he was so detached from the situation that he did not feel the need to. Thus, while it may appear that Mearsault is simple in that regards, ultimately this portrays his complexity as it is so difficult to understand his actions. Mearsault's complexity is furthermore illustrated when he states, "Then I felt like having a smoke. But I hesitated, because I didn’t know if I could do it with Maman right there. I thought about it; it didn’t matter" (Camus 17). Although Meursault smoking a cigarette does not signify his complexity, the way he analyzes the situation in front of him and choosing to smoke clearly does. Although most people would not smoke next to their mother's grave, Meursault reveals his detachment by justifying that ultimately it did not matter whether he smoked or not because his mother had already passed away. Again in this scene it visually appears that Meursault is portraying his simple mindedness but he is actually revealing exactly why he is a complex character; ultimately as the story progresses, he is constantly having to justify most of his actions to himself, even if society may think it is strange or abnormal. In the conclusion of his mother's funeral scene, Mearsault was not only consistently distracted by the heat rather than mourning his mother, but he was also able to distract himself from the sadness by being with Marie the day following his mother's funeral. Consistently throughout this scene the reader is exposed to Meursault's questionable and somewhat confusing actions which can only be explained through his complex nature; Meursault is different in the way that he was not very saddened by his mother's passing, and thus can justify to himself making odd and perplexing actions.