When we read The Stranger, we only see Meursault's actions and the people around him from his point of view. Although he's undoubtedly a very truthful narrator, he is so detached from the people around him that he fails to pick up on social cues, or more often he just doesn't care. To us, Meursault seems very weird and off-putting because we can see inside his head. I keep wondering: how does Meursault appear to the people around him?
Meursault seems to have friends, or at least not to appear too repulsive to the people around him. He gets along with Salamano and seems to be friends with Raymond. From what we see in the book, both of these relationships consist of Salamano/Raymond doing or saying something, and Meursault passively agreeing with them. Salamano and Raymond take that passivity as support and read more into the friendship than Meursault intends. Meursault, for his part, genuinely seems to want friendship, but more for an alliance/someone who likes him rather than because he takes any actual interest in them as a person.
Most of Meursault's friends (Salamano and Raymond) seem to be pretty seedy characters: a mobster(?) who beats his girlfriend and a guy who's abusive to his dog. This makes me wonder if "normal" people see through Meursault better. Maybe the reason Raymond likes Meursault is because he knows Meursault will go along with anything he says, and puts up with Meursault's weirdness because it benefits him. I feel like if another person had been in the room when Raymond was telling Meursault about beating his mistress, they would be disgusted with Meursault for allowing this to happen. Meursault thinks he gets along well with people (the people he waves to from his balcony, etc.). He doesn't seem to hold long conversations with them, though, so maybe he's not as good at it as he thinks he is. Celeste is his only friend who seems like a relatively nice person, but it doesn't seem like they have a particularly close relationship besides occasionally talking in the cafe. This is just me speculating, but Meursault seems like the type of person where people would be nice to him, but think he's a little weird and make excuses to leave after some polite small talk.
Although Meursault appears to be a socialite because of the numerous friends we meet in his narrative, like you, I don't think this fact is completely true. Yes, Meursault has many people come and talk to him, but that's because he seems to be very approachable. Meursault is just one of those guys you can vent your problems to and he won't judge you. In fact, because Meursault seems so inclined to agree with people (ie. agreeing with Raymond when he said that his girlfriend cheated on him), that people probably hang out and talk with him because they feel better afterwards. He doesn't pass judgement and he lets you finish your thoughts completely. Seems like a pretty good friend to me. But, like you said, because of this quality, Meursault's friends may take advantage of his non judgemental character (i.e. Raymond). It makes me wonder what a true friend would be for Meursault because you don't see him venting his problems to anyone except us, and we are inside his mind so he sort of doesn't really have a choice on that one.
ReplyDeleteI think in addition to Mersault passively agreeing with Raymond and Salamano's decisions, another reason they are friends is that Mersault is passive in his choice of who he hangs out with. If Raymond or Salamano asked Mersault to go on a run with them, for example, Mersault would most likely shrug in indifference and go get his sneakers. I feel like Mersault was greatly influenced by them, but if other, less shady characters had extended their friendship to him, he would have gone along with them and acted accordingly. It seems as if Mersault's choice in friends is just who he happens to cross paths with.
ReplyDeleteI think that Meursault's friends view him in a generally positive light because any outward character flaws he might have dim in comparison to theirs. Raymond beats his girlfriend and Salamano beats his dog. Meursault doesn't cry at his mother's funeral, big deal. Out of all three of them, Meursault is the most moral, up until the point where he kills a man. The people who pass Meursault see nothing wrong with him, but friends are closer than strangers and must see some of Meursault's flaws. However, they overlook those flaws because of their numbness to their own wrong-doing.
ReplyDeleteI think that on the outside, Meursault does not look very different from anyone else. It is only when you see into his mind, or in the trial, that he really seems to be different.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that people seem to like Meursault, and mainly because he seems harmless (at least, he doesn't express any wishes to harm anyone.) Even when being on trial for murder, Meursault is handled gently by everyone, even the police. No one really despises him, since his indifference could be interpreted as simply going with the flow of the people around you.
ReplyDeleteI think Meurseult's extremely open-mindedness allows for these relationships with Salamano and Raymond. He doesn't take any side by judging them or necessarily agreeing with them. He just listens, never really disagreeing. He will give the occasional "Yes", but it seems like this is more like just "going with the flow of things". He definitely does seem like a man of very few words as he never really seems to have an opinion on things. I could definitely see your point of him wanting to leave after a little bit of small talk.
ReplyDeleteI think that People view Mersault as a "normal" person is because all of the weirdness is inside his head. Solomano's and Raymond problems are both in the physical world, so its very easy for us to judge them. However, because we as readers are allowed to see inside Mersaults head, we can judge him. But no one else in the book truly can that is why people think that he is normal.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, Meursault probably does think that he gets along with people well, but he has a very different idea of friendship than we do. He doesn't seem to understand that friendship is more than just a passive, mutually beneficial alliance, where the only reason to have a friend is to help you in some way. Indeed, this lack of appreciation for true friendship is what gets him in trouble, as he inherits Raymond's conflict with the Arab without any real thought about the consequences.
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