Thus far, if anyone
had asked me to describe the main character of The Stranger, I would have merely characterized him as an uncanny
sort of man. The sort of man that seems to be slightly socially awkward, mostly
because he is so drastically different from what society has come to tag as a “normal
person.” In fact, before now, I had never considered a backstory for him.
Why is Mersault the
way he is? Could it possibly be just his personality, or is there more to this
character?
Whilst reading the past
four chapters of the book, it finally came into my head (granted, it came a bit
late) that there is a very specific reason that the book is called The Stranger.
As readers, we don’t know anything about Mersault. His tendencies to think of
only the present and the fact that the novel is narrated in first person both
make it almost impossible to get to know the character. In the fifth chapter
however, one hint is finally dropped as to what his past was like. The hint
doesn’t help us understand Mersault better at all; mostly, it just makes him
more of a puzzle. The allusion to this odd character’s life raises more
questions than it answers.
“I returned to work. I’d
have preferred not to vex him, but I saw no reason for ‘changing my life.’ By
and large it wasn’t an unpleasant one. As a student I’d had plenty of ambition
of the kind he meant. But, when I had to drop my studies, I very soon realized all
that was pretty futile.” (The Stranger, pg. 28)
First of all, the
quote conveys the fact that Mersault was a student once, although it doesn’t broaden
on the subject, leaving the reader wondering whether he dropped out of high
school, college, or even middle school. Moreover, the biggest dilemma is brought
forward with the word “had.” It turns out that the character was forced to drop
his studies and forget his ambitions. This detail hints at Mersault actually
being hurt or bitter about something in his past, giving way to the hypothesis
I made in my last blog post about the existential way of thinking being a tactic
to avoid disappointment.
After reading this in
the fifth chapter, my point of view on the character changed, making him seem
more human in my eyes. Finally, there is at least a hint that he cares just as
much as the rest of us do. Furthermore, I noticed that at the beginning of the
sixth chapter, when the character states that “It was an effort waking up that Sunday
morning” (The Stranger, pg. 32) he gives no particular reason as to why it cost
him so much trouble. There is no point in the previous scenes in which the
character drinks or does anything that might make his waking up harder. At that
moment, all I could think of was my recent realization that Mersault is
actually a man after all, and it came to my head that the prior day had been
quite hectic for one who tries not to feel.
Firstly, he was
reminded of his past life: a life in which he probably had a promising future
and hopes for how it may turn out. Soon after the past life incident, he was asked
to be married by the girl he subconsciously loves, even if he refuses to admit
it. All in all, it is enough to make a person who is used to feeling nothing
become a complete turmoil.
After finally
determining this, I find that the quote I shared above actually unravels the
story and the character at once. It shows that the character does have
feelings, even if they are buried down under layer upon layer of resentment and
self-preservation; but it also proposes a reason to the killing which happens
later in the story. Mersault didn’t want to kill the Arab; he sees no meaning
in dying anyway so there would be no point to that. Mersault wanted to kill his
past. Mostly because everything was so much simpler two days before, when he wasn’t
reminded of his preceding dissatisfactions or asked to compromise in marriage.
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