Meursault the Child
Although Meursault does end up killing someone in cold blood, I think some of his traits are very childlike and remind me of the ways I used to think when I was a kid. When I read some of these passages I feel a lot of sympathy for Meursault, especially when I know what his fate turned out to be. However, they still remind me of a youthful innocence that I once had. These childlike traits that he has ends up sadly being the cause of his mistake and downfall.
An example of a childlike quality he has is how hard it is for him to grasp some people's actions. Many young children have a hard time grasping why some people act or look the way they do, especially when they haven't seen or anything like it. We see this during the funeral when Meursault has trouble understanding why people are crying at his mother's death. Children are much more naive than adults when it comes to trust and judgment of characters (e.g. "I have candy in my trunk") and being able to differentiate between right and wrong. Meursault has trouble with this when he becomes friends with Raymond and decides to write the letter manipulating Raymond's mistress for him. Everyone knows that Raymond doesn't run the nicest business, but Meursault doesn't really care.
Another example of Meursaults childish traits is his inability to detect danger and inability to see the consequences of his actions. He often feeds into his "primal" urges as soon as they pop up, not caring whether it might be the wrong time or place. We see this many times throughout the book, one of the most prominent being when he decides to run after the truck with his work friend. This scene is totally childlike to me when they just decide to get up and run full sprint at a truck for no apparent reason beyond simple, basic enjoyment. He doesn't think about the ramifications of his actions, he just does what makes him feel good. We see this when he smokes cigarettes and drinks coffee at his mom's funeral and when he has sex with Maria.
This lack of ability to grasp consequences and acting on desires eventually catches up to him though. In court, the fact that he smoked and drank coffee at his mom's funeral is used against him, claiming that he is cold-hearted and doesn't care about his mother due to these actions. He also gets tied into Raymond's problems. Raymond notoriously has mafia ties and it can be inferred that he runs some sort of prositution business or something of the sorts. However, while others would see this as a red flag, Meursault is 100% set on not judging anyone and decides to go along with what Raymond tells him to do. This leads him into being tied into a very dangerous situation with Raymond and the Arabs. If he was able to detect danger or think of the consequences of what might happen, he wouldn't have gone with Raymond in the first place, and he wouldn't be put in an uncomfortable position that might have caused him to shoot.
I never thought of Meusault in this way until now, but it makes perfect sense. Meusault is very much a yes man, or more like just ok. His absence of thinking about consequences, really does go to show this. When it catches up to him at court, I feel the court did not get it right. His sentencing to death, doesn't seem like. Especially when like you said, he acts like a child. A child will mature, and Meusault needs that time too, just in prison for a bit.
ReplyDeleteThis is a different take that I'm not sure I can fully bring myself to see. I perceived him as very measured in his assessments of situations, simply not caring enough to resist or say anything contradictory to whatever is going on around him. And though I can see how he might not understand some consequences of his actions, he does seem to be aware that he is violating societal norms.
ReplyDeleteI agree a lot with your post, and everything seems to add up. The idea of Meursault as a child is really interesting to me. I wonder if he would progress like a regular child (whose life is offset about 20 years), or if he would remain stuck in his childlike attitude forever. I mostly lean towards the second option. I also think it's worth noting the scene in the courtroom itself where Meursault states that he's close to crying like a child as all of the jury bashes him.
ReplyDeleteI agree. He does a lot of things without really thinking them through, such as when he decides to walk up to the Arab because of the sun or something at the end of part 1. For some reason, I feel as though every novel we have read thus far in this class has had a character that possesses some child-like or immature qualities in some way shape or form, and Meursault is no exception to that.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see what you talking about. I feel like because Meursault has relinquished his agency in life, his actions seem more childish. The older we get, the most things we're in charge of and thus the more things we feel like we need to control. But because kids can't control a lot of things, their indifferent until it affects their basic needs (food for example). Maybe because Meursault doesn't really enforce a will, he relinquishes control, returning to a more childish state. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI see where you are coming from, but I don't see it this way. I don't think Meursault acts the way he does because he is childish. This would suggest that he has a goal to work towards in society when he lacks the aspirations to achieve anything. Putting any societal implication that comes with the term "childish" aside, I agree that Meursault's actions sum him up to having character development. Overall, I think you had an interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post. While reading your blog, I thought about how these traits are something humans are naturally born with but slowly loses overtime. I think it is due to the children learning about society norms and what is right or wrong in the eyes of the public as they grow up. It would seem that Meursault just never fully comprehended everything society deemed right or wrong, though there are definitely a lot of evidence that shows that he is trying, and has learned much of the rules, enough to not be completely outcasted, but not enough to be considered "normal".
ReplyDeleteI defintely agree with the fact that Mersault has these childlike traits which end up being his downfall and the reason for his fate. It definitely feels like he never grew out of his childhood and denies to recognize anything that is too tough for him emotionally. Mersault's ignorance prevents him from being able to understand certain situation from an empahtic standpoint. Also in my opinion, his "primal" instincts do feel well-thought out in terms of accounting for how his own actions affect himself for the future, but what he refuses to take into account, is how his actions affect others. This sort oblivious selfishness is ultimately what decides his fate in court and why he is so estranged.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! When I was first reading I thought his simple 'yes' 'no' answers reflected the mind of a teenager. Furthermore the way he keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into Raymonds world felt very similar to something that could happen in school. It has the same feeling as a person who doesn't know when the joke is over, or just doesn't think about what he says. Both of these are characteristics of a childlike mind, as you said.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, he definitely seems like a child with a very malleable brain or just no sense of what is right or wrong. It really makes Meursault look like a child or a toddler when you bring in evidence of his actions and how they make him look if we didn't know who he was. If this were a book about a child I could see the exact characteristics fitting him. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI truly agree with everything said in your post. Meursault seems to only act on a very superficial and uninformed basis. The examples you have brought up encapsulate this perfectly as we see him display the behavior of a child throughout the book. He tends to be easily told to do things because he has no judgement for anything, he simply executes what he is told to do. This would eventually lead him to his demise.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Meursault has a very childlike and almost aloof way of going about things, he seems blissfully ignorant. You're right that was eventually his downfall because this childlike ignorance kept him from discerning when it was right and wrong to do things (even before shooting the Arab)
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