The Stranger And Its Animal Na Essay

, Research Paper

Mersaults’ Animal Nature

Albert Camus’ The Stranger starts with the death of a mother, maybe. Her son, Mersault, is unsure. He is also oblivious to the concepts of marriage, God, and repentance, as well as other institutions of society. According to social law, this is reason to execute him for a senseless murder. Mersault discovers that he is going to be tried and eventually die because of his nature and not due to the act he committed. Society is the collected human interaction and thought, and it requires that a social being worries about the afterlife, repents for its bad deeds, and mourns at one’s death. However, Mersault thinks differently, and does not follow society’s norms. Instead, he acts and lives like an animal. Mersault tries to survive in a society that is not suited for him. He attempts to abide by its rules, but such an animal can never be tamed. Mersault does not grasp the idea that he is an outsider and he always will be, just as society will never understand him. Mersualts’ situation is similar to Jean-Paul Sartre’ s view of the individual. He believed that one is “situated in a massive and oppressive social structure which limits and alienates his activities” (9). Mersault finds that his animal-like lifestyle and views about life contrast dangerously with the world around him.

One of the main reasons Mersault was executed was because of his treatment to his mother. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don t know” (3). Those are not the thoughts of a disillusioned son mourning his deceased mother, but of a unfeeling, beast-like character. Her death was insignificant to him, but it could not have been otherwise. In the wild, when a mother dies, its offspring does not think anything of it as long as it is old enough to get along with out her. Mersault did not need his mother anymore, and so he acts uncaring towards her death. This is why he put her away in the house, in addition to the reason that he did not have enough money and time to support both of them. Leaving its mother is a normal act in an animal’s life, and so it is the same for Mersault. When his mother died, it was more of an inconvenience that anything else. As soon as Mersault arrived at the nursing home he wanted to go back home, much like an animal would want to return to its known territory. While at the nursing home Mersault lets others see his unnatural behavior. He has a cup of coffee and a cigarette while keeping vigil over her, he doesn t want to take a last look at her face, he doesn’t cry once, nor does he visit the grave after she was buried. These are pointed out at Mersault’s trial, as well as his suprising calmness over the death. Everyone is shocked at how he acted towards a depressing moment in one’s life. Mersault notices that after this was found, out no one listened to the rest of the trial. No matter how low society looks down on his treatment to his mother, there is nothing he can do. It is who he is. Another incidence of Mersaults’ animalistic view is the passage “It had been a long time since I’d been out in the country, and I could feel how much I’d enjoy going for a walk if it hadn’t been for Maman” (12). It not only shows Mersault’s apathetic nature, but also his need to be out in nature. When the funeral is over and he is back in his own territory he feels safe again. Even though the woman who had just brought him into the world has just died, Mersault feels that “nothing had changed”(24).

Mersault’s relationships with other people is similar to the one between him and his mother. His mother had little affect on him, and this applies to his friends too. Being “pals” with Raymond, or getting married to Marie means the same to him. His relationship with Marie shows his beast-like nature dramatically. He starts going out with her the day after he gets back from his mother’s funeral. Even after an unusual start, Marie grows to love him. However, love is not a word that Mersault uses because he neither believes nor understands it. Animals do not love their mates and most do not stay with only one mate for very long. Mersault has a passion for women but, like an animal, who the mate is isn’t important, as long as she’s young and attractive. Marie asks him twice if he loves her and both times Mersault answers that he probably does not. When she asked him if he’s going to marry her, he answered, “it didn’t make any difference to me and we could if she wanted to”(41). He would have said the same thing if any other girl had asked him. Marriage is not a serious commitment to him, and if he had his way, he would prefer not to get involved in it. Marie is confused because she does not fully comprehend his nature. She wants him to love her, but animals do not possess as many emotions as humans do. One the emotions they lack is love. Marie is willing to overlook this as long as she can be with him.

Mersault’s nature associates most with Raymond’s. He is like Mersault in that he too is really an animal. He is physical and manly. Many times he lets his beast nature control him such has when he beats his ex-girlfriend and the Arabs. While Mersault is not as physical as Raymond, he can relate to him. Some animals work together to get their meal, and this is the case for the two. Their motivation, though, is revenge.

Twice in the novel Mersault lets the beast take complete control over him. One of the times is when he shoots