Nothing changed...

The Stranger by Albert Camus
Part One

Chapter I - Chapter III

     Mersault is a young shipping clerk living in Algiers. This very incomparable novel starts with the death of Mersault’s (the narrator) mother. What immediately reveals the  personality of Mersault is the next immediate thought after he read the first sentence of the telegram “Mother died today”.”Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure”; the details of the telegram which he does discuss only concern his uncertainty of the date. He does not mention any emotional effect on him. The simple action verbs Camus uses reflect the detached personality of Mersault. It is very fascinating how the structure of the novel made me feel as I was inside Mersault’s head. His paradoxical decisions and thoughts very often resemble to a human being that just exists – nothing else. Through the first three chapters Mersault’s personality is exposed more and more. The fact that he tries to excuse himself for his mother’s death is a very meaningful detail. This detail reveals a common flaw of human nature – pointing the finger to someone/something else to clear one’s consciousness. Many times through the first chapter Mersault falls asleep. This shows Mersault’s passiveness during a moment which can happen to anyone yet he experiences everything with very little emotion. In his mother’s funeral a woman friend of hers and M. Perez are the only ones who cry. The images Camus creates stimulatingly form a picture in the reader’s mind. Mersault is melted by the hot sun more than by the funeral of his mother. This strengthens my conviction on Mersault’s personality. Consequently, Camus introduces the regular Saturday and Sunday of Mersault. The tone used in these three chapters represents the sameness and indifference of Mersault’s life. The fact that Mersault focuses only on his physical environment rather than on the emotions derived from the death of one’s mother show us the character of a man without hope, vision, or future. On the first day after returning from his mother's burial, he is right back into his ordinary life and chooses swimming as his first activity. This is where we get introduced whith Marie; a former typist at Mersault’s office. We learn only superficial traits of Marie - she was a typist. The social interaction of Marie and Mersault is explained very coldly and shortly. On the next day Mersault is only concerned with the fact that it is Sunday and not that Marie has left. Mersault’s Sunday is portrayed as a very long day accompanied with Mersault’s thoughts of people outside of his window. The emptiness of his Sunday is written all over. Before that Sunday ended Mersault realizes that the death of his mother changed nothing; everything is still the same. We also get introduced to a typical work day of Mersault; the littlest details of an everyman job are publicized. The moment where Mersault does not know the exact age of his mother reveal a lot to the reader; a typical son would know his mother’s age. Through the third chapter we get introduced to two new characters; Salamano and Raymond. Salamano is an old neighbor of Mersaults who has been living with his dog since his wife died. This clearly exposes human’s fear of being or dying alone. Raymond is another revolting type who does everything to show off as a tough guy. The simplified explanation of Mersault and Raymond social interaction is that Raymond talks to Mersault because he listens and Mersault listens to Raymond because he cooks him dinner.  Even though Mersault is never portrayed as a ‘’bad guy’’, the moment that he helps Raymond into manipulating his mistress raises a paradoxical issue. Throughout these three chapters colossal questions about the human nature and existence are raised. I believe that Camus does this intentionally because he clearly is an existentialist.