Journal #2

Describe Meursault's actions/activities. How do you respond to Meursault's activities? Why would Camus create a protagonist like Mersault - what is he trying to accomplish?

"It occured to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed" (pg 24). Meursault is going to go back to work tomorrow and it is going to be completely back to normal, as if the weekend's events had absolutely no effect on him. It is kind of appalling to see how casual Meursault is when it comes to his mother's death, and at times, he feels annoyed at the situation. Perhaps he lacks a relationship of any kind with his mother, which can be seen when he is asked how old she is, and he doesn't know. Perhaps he lacks the ability to feel emotion, because the day after her funeral, he goes out on a date, and when Marie asks him about his mother, he casually brushes off the situation. When asked by both Marie and his boss, Meursault is quick to defend the fact that it's not his fault that his mother died. Camus creates a protagonist like Mersault to illustrate a man who seems as though he's living his life on the outside looking in.