Strange with Strange Friends

Strange with Strange Friends

The Stranger was, well strange. This opinion is not limited to only Meursalt, but his friends as well. I feel this way because while reading this story about this man who neither expresses emotion nor even feels any emotion, I am constantly trying to figure out what’s up with this guy, when is he going to break down? As the story progresses I begin to lose hope that he is going to show anything that resembles a normal personality. Now, one can argue what is a “normal personality” but in this case I mean a personality that is filled with emotion.

                At first I thought to myself why do people want to be friends with such a strange individual, and then I came to this conclusion that maybe those people are strange as well. Take Marie for instance, Mersaults sex/swimming partner. At first Mersault introduced her as a girl that used to work with him but then left after shortly after, at first I thought nothing of it. However as I read more it occurred to me that maybe the job did not work out because of how strange she was. I mean were talking about a girl who is in a loveless relationship but still would like to marry Mersault. I think it’s strange that she would want to marry a man that tells her without any sense of guilt that he does not love her, yet is indifferent about getting married. I for one would think that could be a start of downward spiral in most relationships. Then to make matters even more interesting Mersault kills a man for no good reason, something that I thought was going to be the last straw in the relationship and from that point on there would be no talk of Marie for the rest of the story. With no regard to the fact that Mersault just killed a man and he said he did not love her she still stands by him to the end of days with the thought of marriage in her mind. You have to be strange to think that you can marry someone when you know they are serving a life sentence and you can’t even visit them.

                Next is Salamano, who I consider strange yet not as strange as the others involved in the story. Salamano hates his dog and treats it terribly aside from feeding it and taking it on walks. But then when his dog is gone he is sad and misses his dog and confides in Mersault who is indifferent about everything and everyone. He is can only confide in Mersault because everyon else is so turned off from Salamano because of the way they witness him beat his dog.

                Finally there is Raymond, an alleged pimp. Raymond is adamant about Mersault openly stating that the two of them are friends, which cannot be the case because Mersault is indifferent about everyone and has no need for friends, everyone is just there. What is strange about this man is that he was angry about this girl who he wanted to be done with, yet when she is gone he wants her back. He has Mersault write a letter to this girl asking her over so they can settle everything right. Mersault agrees to write the letter before and after Raymond says that he wants to get her naked and then kick her out of the house.

                I believe these people are strange because they exert behaviors that would not make most people feel comfortable, which is why Mersault is such a great friend. He is indifferent about everything and everyone and therefore his friends feel comfortable around him because he is open to them. Mersault is not only strange but also a terrible person as well.  It is his strangeness that causes him to be so terrible. He cares so little about everyone and anything that it causes him to be vulnerable to other people’s whims. Tragicaly he spent time in the company of a man who is considered a pimp and did act that only a pimp could only think about doing but be too conscious of doing said acts themselves.

                In conclusion I would like to talk about the trial about him being careless about his mothers passing and not so much the fact that he just killed a man. I believe that the trial was a metaphor. It was a judgment of the kind of person he is. His sentencing was death because not having a life fit the crime of being careless about his acts and emotions.