A Character Analysis of Meursault in The Stranger
The Stranger is a character with great primary values which allow him to live his life at a happier existence than other people. He is more content than those with opposite viewpoints on life. He is able to adapt to change very easily. He worries less. He is much more relaxed than anyone else and he doesn't get bothered by vexatious personalities. He doesn't have as much stress and therefore, he is healthier. Because of all these values, he is able to live a contented life, which is all he wants.
First of all, The Stranger is very impulsive. He doesn't plan things out, so he isn't disappointed when things don't go as planned. When Emmanuel challenges him to jump on a moving truck, he doesn't hesitate, he just goes for it. Two things may have occurred here. He could have been injured, or he could have been safe and unscathed the entire time. In either case, it wouldn't have mattered to him. He enjoys taking risks like these, but even so, it's still okay to him if he doesn't do anything exciting in his day.
The Stranger isn't dedicated to a religion, and as this may seem like a negative thing. it has several positive effects on his outlook. Because he doesn't have a set in stone code of morals, Meursault must gain knowledge of right and wrong through his own experience. What he hasn't experienced, he doesn't judge. He is completely free of any kind of bigoted opinions, and all his moral opinions are true because he has personally experienced everything that he holds opinions on. He has an unmarried sexual relationship with Marie, but it isn't degrading or cheap because he is sensitive to that.
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He refuses to go to the whorehouse with Raymond. He just does what he feels to be right at any moment. When Raymond comments that Salamano and his dog have a disgusting relationship, he asks if Meursault agrees, and he says no. He never experienced it, so he chooses not to make guesses at what is disgusting and what isn't. The Stranger has no expectation of the [current] judeo-christian idea of afterlife because he believes it as false, however he knows that some things are never-ending and eternal.
When Meursault is in jail, he learns to adjust his consciousness so that time seems to pass very quickly. He knows that time and space are both nothing more than illusory, therefore, he doesn't believe in the extreme atheistic idea of afterlife either. Because he doesn't have certain despair nor expectant lifestyle hope, he is able to view life more happily. He makes his own destiny and he knows that eventually everything turns out fair.
While many of my classmates may argue that Meursault has only faults in his personality, I can honestly say that he has good values, only in a different perspective. Where he may be lacking he makes up for somewhere else. For all these reasons, I say that Meursault has just as good a personality, if not a better one, than his opposite counterparts.
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A Character Analysis of Meursault in The Stranger. (2023, May 25). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/a-character-analysis-of-meursault-in-the-stranger/
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