The Stranger by Albert Camus

In Albert Camus's novel, The Stranger, he writes about a man named Meursault. This novel is sometimes difficult to follow because in some ways, Camus makes Meursault seem like he is not entirely in the novel. Meursault does not have any quotation marks that mark his statements during most of the book. He also does not make any major choices for himself and tends to follow anyone's suggestion. In the beginning of the novel, Meursault's mother died and Meursault was traveling to see her. It is odd how Meursault showed no interest at his mother's funeral. When people ask any personal questions about how old she is, Meursault would give a very vague answer of older, or about sixty. Not only does he know how old his mother is, he gave no interest in seeing his mother's body before the burial, even though his reasons for not seeing her was not because he was overemotional. Camus created a picture of a man who accepted his environment for his life and it is very facinating to read.

There are multiple times where Meursault is presented with a choice and he chooses to let others make them for him. For example, while he is dating Marie, she asks him if he would ever ask her to marry him, and he answers that he would do whatever would make her happy. In that case was marrying her, but whenever she asks him if he loves her, he answers with a confident no. Another time while talking with his flat mate, Raymond, Meursault is asked what Raymond should do with his 'unfaithful' mistress. Raymond believed that he should teacher her a lesson by beating her up and Meursault does nothing to stop the abuse, but he actually chooses to agree that Raymond was doing the right thing and even helps write a letter for Raymond. Meursault's inability to make decisions for himself becomes irritating as the book moves forward, because other than the interactions that Meursault makes with a few people, it seems like he is not even in the novel. The Stranger is a very good book, but it has times where it is hard to follow at moments.

Spoiler:
Albert Camus choses to bring in the main problem of the novel at the middle of the book when Meursault murders a man when he suspects that the man wants to kill him. Camus does not even specify what the man was holding, all Camus describes is the shining light that blinded Meursault. Because of this murder, Meursault is put into jail and on trial. Even though he is in jail he never becomes unemotionally unstable, but he does have a hard time paying attention and he tends to have fantasies in the important times of the trial. The only time he reacts to something is when the priest comes to Meursault when he is about to die. As the priest said he was the only one to never confess to God in the end his life.