Existentialism in “The Stranger”
...of the novel, Mersault gives little to no insight on his feelings of his mother’s death, only commenting: “MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.”(Camus, 1) From this quote we receive the impression that Mersault seems to care more about which day his more died on over the fact that his mother is no longer among the living. He expresses more interest of his surrounding and what he plans to do after the funeral of the death of his mother. “And I can remember... and I pictured myself going straight to bed and sleeping for twelve hours at a stretch.”(Camus, 22) This quotation is the ending paragraph of chapter one, where Mersault is describing the last of his experience at the funeral. The lack of emotion towards his mother is almost disturbing. It is true, that some people push painful feelings away because they cannot deal with their feelings at the time. But Mersault’s thought out the entire chapter, shows no feelings of loss or pain in regards to the death of his mother. “We put the lid on... I realized I shouldn’t have said, ‘No,’...”(Camus, 6) When Meurault arrives he insists that he doesn't want to see his mother. The caretaker and director of the facility are puzzled that Meurault doesn’t shed a tear over the death of his mother nor shows any emotion for the loss of a loved one. “I drank a coffee, and then I wanted a cigarette. But I wasn’t sure if I should under the circumstances- in Mother’s presence. I thought it over; really it didn’t matter, ...” (Camus, 9) Here Mersault is in conflict because his solitude of individual experience is intruded upon by, the dea...