Relationships are often cherished, and typically help someone grow into a better person. Regardless of the type of relationship e.g friendships, romantic relationships, and family one always wants to improve a relationship, or at the very least end it on good terms. However, in the book, “The Stranger”, Albert Camus portrays relationships as a negative construct. When one thinks of relationships, the words: trust, emotion, love, and support come into mind. None of these words can be used to describe the relationships going on in “The Stranger.” I believe Camus portrays relationships like this, so that it supports his philosophy of the absurd.
The very first relationship we are introduced to is between the protagonist, Meursault, and his mother(maman). For context, his mother had died, and Meursault is going to her funeral. Based off of what Meursault is observing, it doesn’t seem that he cares all that much that his mother died. He seems to get annoyed when someone is grieving over her, like on page 10, “She was crying softly, steadily, in little sobs. I thought she’d never stop.” Furthermore, he is more focused on other things rather than the funeral. This can be seen on page 11, “ I was tired and my back was hurting me.” Meursault did not once, grieve over his mother and this does have negative consequences later in the book, but how does this emotionless relationship support the idea of absurdism? Camus believed that humans should strive and search for meaning in a chaotic universe. Camus believed firmly in the idea of individual freedom. Relating this back to the book, Meursault chose not to lament over his deceased mother because he saw no point or meaning in it. He continued life the way he lived before his mother died, to him nothing had changed.
The other important relationship is between Marie and Meursault. At the very beginning of the relationship Meursault deliberately wants to spend time with Marie. He makes an effort to spend more time with her, like when he asks her to go to the movies, “I asked her if she wanted to the movies that evening.”(20) I believe Meursault wanted to find meaning in life by trying to find love by using Marie. Sort of using her as a way to benefit Meursault in finding meaning in life, once again relating back to absurdism. However as the relationship between the characters goes on, it seems that Meursault does not find any meaning in the relationship, so when Marie asks Meursault if he loved her, he simply replies with, “ I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.”(35)
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Although this quote is short, it provides a significant idea that Meursault does not believe in love and finds it meaningless. He made an attempt in exploring for meaning in human existence, however, he didn’t find the answer in Marie. This is confirmed later in the book when he is in jail, “I was tormented b m desire for a woman. It was only natural; I was young. I never thought specifically of Maire, But I thought so much about a woman.”(77) He didn’t think specifically about Marie, because he didn’t find any value in her the way he used to.
Another relationship is between Meursault and Raymond. I believe Meursault tried finding value in friends. He shows this by supporting Raymond in any situation. The first instance where this is brought up is when Raymond asks Meursault to back him up as a witness, “According to Raymond, all I had to do was to state that the girl had cheated on him. I agreed to act as a witness for him.”(37) I believe Meursault wanted to have a good relationship with Raymond which is why he agreed to lie to the cops, and back Raymond up. In the same page Meursault acknowledges Raymond’s emotions when he states, “Raymond seemed pretty happy.” Therefore, the reader knows that Meursault is taking Raymond’s emotions into account when establishing a positive relationship. This is also part of the reason why I believe Meursault chose to kill that Arab. He wanted to make Raymond proud, and happy.
The author of “The Stranger”, Albert Camus, agreed with the philosophy of absurd, and through the use of his literacy popularized it. The book is world renowned for being such a great piece. In almost every relationship that Meursault had, it never once ended on good terms. In fact most relationships with Meursault ended horribly with him, and some even backfired, like his relationship with Raymond’s did.
