Meursault Isolation Quotes

The Stranger

The title The Stranger sums up the novel into two words. Meursault acts mentally, physically, and emotionally strange to the reader. Only because Albert Camus made Meursault so isolated. Many humans show emotions on everyday things, and that is why Meursault would be considered strange because he does not act as we would say a normal human should.

The main character Meursault is literally a stranger, a stranger to the reader. He is a stranger in many ways. Meursault does not act as we would say a normal person would. Being as he did not shed a tear at his own mothers funeral. Meursault also shot and killed an Arab at the beach and showed no regrets. Throughout the novel Meursault kept himself isolated himself mentally,

and emotionally but after killing the Arab at the beach he is physically isolated. The reader would also describe Meursault as a strange character by the way that he explains his day to day events. He does not go into a deep explanation about the events of his day.
Throughout the novel Meursault displays isolation mentally, and emotionally.

By the end of Meursault is imprisoned somewhere he has always mentally and emotionally been. Being isolated make him act as a stranger even more. The title describes a strange person.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

“It was then that I realized they were all sitting across from me, nodding their heads, grouped around the care taker. For a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were judging me” (Camus, 50). The quote adds to the book because at that point they were at the viewing of Meursault’s mom. Instead of feeling comfort from all the people, he felt as if they were judging him.

“All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. I stood there motionless” (Camus, 124). Meursault was at a party-like function, and once again he became disconnected to human interaction. The quote adds to the book as a whole because it shows one of the many times he becomes disconnected from normal human

interaction.
The next two quotes show the emotional disconnection from human connection. More so showing how much of a stranger Meursault is to the reader and to other people around him. “That evening Marie came by to see me and asked if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to” (Camus, 157). Also “… she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time that it didn’t mean anything” (Camus, 156). These to quotes add to the book dramatically. This quote is one of the biggest quotes that show the lack of emotional connection.
“I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of the beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times” (Camus, 209). Meursault was at the place he felt most normal, but because of how strange Meursault is he still did something with out any thought before doing what he did.

The Stranger
Meursault being isolated from everyone becomes the major conflict of The Stranger.

Meursault being isolated and not talking to anyone hurts him emotionally, and physically. It hurts him physically by him being isolated “A few days after I entered prison, I realized that I wouldn’t like taking about this part of my life” (Camus, 249) He also loses many chances from being isolated.

Meursault doesn’t conform to society such as understanding what we would call normal human emotions such as the emotions of love or death. The reason Meursault may seem disconnected from the felling of love is shown when his girlfriend ask about marriage. Meursault answers without caring by saying “it doesn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to” (Camus, 156). Meursault also show the disconnection of normal human emotions after his mother’s death. “… Maman’s death, but that was one of those things that was bound to happen sooner or later” (Camus, 123).

More so there is really no way to resolve Meursault problem. His problem is internal and Meursault would be the only one able to solve his problem. The way he acts toward other people would only be changed if he opens up to people himself. The only conflict throughout the whole book is that Meursault has no actual feelings for anything, and frankly does not care either. Lastly there is not actual resolution that anyone other than himself can

do.

The Stranger
The main message of The Stranger by Albert Camus is that human life has no real purpose. This is shown throughout the entire book by the way Camus made Meursault acts. The author made Meursault act so isolated to sully convey his message.
“But if you don’t die today, you’ll die tomorrow, or the next day” (Camus, 397). Throughout part one of the stranger Meursault sees that everyone was born to di, and that I doesn’t matter when you actually die. Which is shown when Meursault says: “Deep down I knew perfectly well that it doesn’t much matter whether you die at thirty or a seventy. That soon changes through Part two of The Stranger. Meursault gradually starts to realize the importance of life. Although Meursault shows may signs of grasping the concept of life he does not completely do so. Later Meursault says once again “But everybody knows life isn’t worth living” (Camus, 388). He says that once again because of the situation that he is currently going through which is after killing the Arab on the beach.
Albert Camus may believe that this message is important because of the world is set, the way everything is a competition. But in the eyes of Camus all of life’s values are the same because in the end we all die. By writing The Stranger Albert Camus wanted the reader to know that there is no real purpose in the world, and the world and the only way to make a purpose is to make your own.