Knocking on the door of unhappiness...

The Stranger by Albert Camus
Part One

Chapter IV - Chapter VI

    Camus now does not need to show us other in the routine anymore. At this time the week flies away. Now again Meursault goes for swimming with Marie, and again we find Mersault arrested in his behavior by a physical sensation. Swimming and absorbing the salt leads to the sexual act back at Meursault’s place. For the first time the harmony between these two is noticed. However, the next morning this harmony is ruined by the ugly fight between Raymond and his girl. The fight comes right after the moment that Meursault states that he does not love Marie. It is visible that he is not involved in emotional boundaries. After the fight Marie insists in calling the police but Mersault does not want to because he does not like police. This reply is selfish, and it discloses the nature of human stupidity.
When the police come, the true identity of Raymond is revealed. Raymond is not the tough guy anymore; he is in fact trembling in front of the ‘’tougher’’ guys.
After the fight is over, Meursault and Marie return to lunch. Marie has lost her appetite whereas Meursault eats all of his lunch. This also tells us how indifferent is Meaursault toward other people’s issues.
How Salamano is portrayed at the end of the chapter is much different than the previous portrait. Although still acting the part of the hating dog owner, his compassion and love for the dog can be seen. While Salamano’s grief Meursault suddenly thinks of his mother - yet he falls asleep without eating. It is the first time that Meursault gives up a physical pleasure for emotional pain.
Meursault’s indifference continuously shows up. When Meursault’s boss offers him a job in Paris, Mersault apathetically answers “ it was all the same to me”. There comes a point where Meursault’s ambitions as a student are discovered. It is implied that something happened to him that vanished his dreams – yet he continued to live that routine life of his. Meursault continues to not participate in the society’s expectations. Everytime Marie asks to marry her he gets annoyed that she questions his reasons. This also connects to how now Salamano is portrayed as a truly pitiful creature left without his companion. It is also very ironic how the loss of one’s dog is more exaggerated than the death of the other’s mother. Is this son a monster? But then again he feels compassion toward Salamano’s loss ; which could be Camus definition of a meaningful life.
The scene where Meursault is walking with Marie immediately tells us that this leads to the novel’s climax. Once he reaches the street, the sun does not have the normal soothing effect on Meursault but instead slaps him on the face. If the sun is represented in a negative way by Camus, it is an indication for catastrophic events. Arriving at the beach, the atmosphere is still highly negative. Even though on the surface, one might think that is is very positive. Marie’s joy is heavily contrasted to Meursault’s darkness. The fact that this is the first time Meursault seriously thinks of asking Marie to marry him stimulatingly makes the reader believe that something will be drastically changing in Meursaults life. While talking to Raymond, who is now playing the role of the leader, Mersault’s indifference marks his decisions. It was easiest to agree. So Meursault agrees to stand aside in case the third Arab comes. The fight leads to a superficial wounding of Reymond and him acting like it is the end of the world. This again shows us the fearful character of Reymond. Meursault follows Raymond back to the beach even though he furiously insists to be left alone. The sun is still becoming hotter and more overpowering. When Raymond reaches toward his pocket for the gun, Meursault tries to stop him. We see Meursault here trying to do something conventionally moral. Does this reveal the moral makeup of Meursault or is he reacting to the situation objectively?
They finally leave the Arab. After that Meursault decides to go back to the beach because “ to stay or to go, it amounted to the same thing’’. Arriving there the sun has become more and more sharp; symbolized as a knife. It is implied that Meursault acts instinctively. And this is the begining of the climax – Mersault brutally kills the Arab. He shoots once and he realizes that that action was a path to being doomed. The 4 consecutive shots are the peak of Meursault’s life. He knows that by shooting the Arab 4 more times “he is knocking on the door of unhappiness”. So why does he shoot 4 more times? Is Meursault a mad man? Or is he just strange/unconventional and he has a different meaning of happiness?