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Who is Meursault?

 The Stranger's Meursault, displays a pattern of behavior that is very uncommon in most literary works. While readers are usually able to relate to the main character and sympathize with the emotions that they are feeling, Meursault is the opposite. The way Meursault interacts and feels about certain situations and characters is quite strange, as if he's almost a stranger (hence the title) to the readers throughout the novel. We begin to wonder, is he a sociopath? Where are his emotions? Or why does he act this way? We wonder these questions because of how unfamiliar his character is to its readers. A term to somewhat describe Meursault's perspective and type of behavior would be nihilism. A nihilist is someone that does not believe in anything, has no loyalties, and ultimately believes that they, and society, have no purpose. Wow, that sure sounds like someone I'd love to be around!

Lost in Translation: What the First Line of “The Stranger” Should Be | The New Yorker

Meursault's detached personality erupts strange emotional behavior. For example, during Maman's funeral, Meursault finds himself more worried about the weather and how hot it is then his own mother's death. However, he still feels some sort of emotion towards her death later on in the novel. It makes me wonder, is he actually sad or is he just trying to feel emotion so that he seems normal in the eyes of society? Overall, Meursault is very strange and a hard-to-read character that does feel emotions, just not what us readers are familiar with. Therefore, what is the right term to describe him?

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