Meursault characterisation

passive
1. asked to write letter, doesn't mind doing it
2. relationship with R
  1. letter and witness statement
indifference
1. "ça m'était égal"
2. "cela ne veut rien dire"
3. doesn't mind whether he is R friend or not
4. doesn't care whether he goes to Paris or not
  1. "on ne changeait jamais de vie"
5. on finissait toujours par s'habituer à tout
honesty
1. refuses to live about knowledge of age of mum
2. lawyer want him to say smtg but he refuses "parce que c'est faux"
3. "voulez-vous, s'est il exclamé, que ma vie n'ait pas de sens?" he refuses to lie and say god exists to help his case and make juge d'instruction happy
4. openly refuses to accept values of society and consequently dies for it
5. can't believe in afterlife because he cannot be sure it exists
refusal to judge ppl but good listener (often finds interesting what is said)
1. doesn't judge R
  1. "je n'ai aucune raison de ne pas lui parler"
  2. "c'était intérresant" when he hears story about Arab girl
  3. he tries hard when writing letter because "je n'avais pas de raison de ne pas le contenter"
2. Celeste talks about Salamano dog saying "c'est malheureux"
  1. but M says "mais au fond on ne peut savoir"
3. when being told about corpses " je trouvais ce qu'il disait intérressant
emotions
1. lust
  1. "j'ai eu très envie d'elle"
  2. only physical "morte, elle ne m’interessait plus"
2. Love
  1. cannot quantify it, therefore because so honest he cannot say whether he loves or not
    1. when Marie asks whether he loves her he says "je lui ai répondu que cela ne voulait rien dire, mais qu'il me semblait que non"
    2. gives depth to emotions and therefore as he can’t describe love as it means that life becomes meaningless
3. Lack of remorse
  1. After Arab
    1. does not regret act: je ne regrettais pas beaucoup mon acte"
  2. no reaction to violence
    1. after R beats up girl, Marie loses appetite but M eats as if nothing happened
4. difficulty interpreting emotions
  1. Mum death
    1. more concerned about when telegram left
      1. does think of mum when he hears Salamano crying so subconsciously associates pain with mum's death
  2. focuses on facts such as how guillotine works instead of confronting emotions
5. key quote: j'avais une nature telle que mes besoins physiques dérangeaient souvent mes sentiments
amorality vs immorality
1. has conscience and feels judgement of others
  1. when asks for days off from boss he says that it's not his fault that his mum has died, but then he says "je n'aurais pas dû dire cela"
  2. when he says he doesn't want to see the body "je sentais que je n'aurais pas dû dire cela"
  3. decides whether smoking in front of mother is bad "cela n'avait aucune importance"
  4. anger at judgement + blind certainty
    1. aucune de ses certitudes ne valait un cheveu d'une femme
    2. je ne pouvais pas accepter cette certitude insolente- when he has been sentenced
    3. il avait l'air si certain, n'est-ce pas?
  5. j'ai cru qu'ils me reprochait quelque chose
    1. j'ai eu un moment l'impression ridicule qu'ils étaient là pour me juger
  6. Asile "J'ai cru qui'il me reprochait quelque chose et j'ai commencé à lui expliquer" says to director cos he thinks he is judging him
2. amoral
  1. does not regret death of Arab, more of an inconvenience
Relationship with physical/natural world vs society
1. discomfort with human interactions
  1. when on bus to funeral he sleeps and when he wakes up he is asked if he has come a long way and he replies yes "pour n'avoir plus à parler"
  2. ils m'auraient posé des questions et je n'aime pas cela
2. at peace with nature
  1. c'était une belle journée qui se préparait
  2. j'avais tout le ciel dans les yeux
  3. le ciel était vert, je me sentais content
3. rel with man-made (feels oppressed)
  1. "l'éclat de la lumière sur les murs blancs me faitguait"
Meursault as narrator
1. written in first person
  1. supports atheist view
    1. 3rd person traditionally in Fr lit is omniscient which is what God supposedly is therefore would be against Camus ideology to write in 3rd person
  2. effect of diary
2. no connectives + causal phrases as they give depth + meaning, does not analyse events so reflects contingent view of world
  1. Sartre ‘chaque phrase de l’étranger est une île’
  2. Rarely uses phrases of causality, gives staccato, detached effect
3. openness to perfect tense
  1. e.g."je lui ai répondu" begs question, what did you reply/what happened next. Even more so in Fr than Eng because they have past historic
    1. supports idea that nothing fixed or definite, reflects contingent view of world
      1. creates uncertainty about life or future
existentialism
1. does not believe in God

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Meursault characterisation

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