I don't know how to start writing about this book. I can't pretend that I understood everything that the author wanted to point out through this book and more specifically, through the character of Mersault. But whatever I understood, I enjoyed.
The main character is Mersault (an emotional zombie) who displays behaviour which is not "normal". He is a "stranger" to social norms and it is this inability to behave in a conventional manner that gets him into trouble. Throughout the novel, he commits only one crime - murdering a man as an act of self-defence. However, his real crime ends up being his non-conformity to social norms. During his trial, the circumstances of the murder is not discussed. Instead, emphasis is laid on his character. Why didn't he cry on his mother's funeral? Why did he go out and watch a comedy movie the day after his mother's death? Why did he associate with a man who is believed to be a pimp by the society? Why was he so emotionally detached?
He must be a sociopath who is unfit for living in the society.
The verdict? Capital punishment.
His crime? Not playing by the rules of the society.
This novel explores the meaninglessness of life and the issues at the centre of existentialism (a popular theme with French authors of that time). It explores the fact that life has no true meaning or purpose - it is what you make of it. In fact, there is a lot to learn from Mersault's refusal to conform to the society's rules. His revelation at the end of the novel is perhaps one of my favourite parts of the book.
“For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiancé,' why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live it all again too. As if the blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself — so like a brother, really — I felt I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.”
The main character is Mersault (an emotional zombie) who displays behaviour which is not "normal". He is a "stranger" to social norms and it is this inability to behave in a conventional manner that gets him into trouble. Throughout the novel, he commits only one crime - murdering a man as an act of self-defence. However, his real crime ends up being his non-conformity to social norms. During his trial, the circumstances of the murder is not discussed. Instead, emphasis is laid on his character. Why didn't he cry on his mother's funeral? Why did he go out and watch a comedy movie the day after his mother's death? Why did he associate with a man who is believed to be a pimp by the society? Why was he so emotionally detached?
He must be a sociopath who is unfit for living in the society.
The verdict? Capital punishment.
His crime? Not playing by the rules of the society.
This novel explores the meaninglessness of life and the issues at the centre of existentialism (a popular theme with French authors of that time). It explores the fact that life has no true meaning or purpose - it is what you make of it. In fact, there is a lot to learn from Mersault's refusal to conform to the society's rules. His revelation at the end of the novel is perhaps one of my favourite parts of the book.
“For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiancé,' why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live it all again too. As if the blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself — so like a brother, really — I felt I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.”
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