Despite alllllllllllll the Catcher in the Rye reading we’ve been doing up until this point, The Stranger was a nice but very different change in comparison. Meursault doesn’t seem to allude or give much to symbolize and the story as he continues to live seems clear cut. He introduces us to a lot of the characters so far and here’s what I think so far:
Meursault and Maman seemed to have a very interesting relationship. The only family they seemed to have was each other, yet Meursault had to check his mother into a nursing home. Her death within the first few pages of the book are so surreal to Meursault and make him feel almost as if he is caught in a fog. However, he details specific instances concerning her funeral but he never seems to face his emotions on Maman. He avoids seeing her, thinking about her, and discussing her to others, like when he replies with “No” everytime he is asked if he wants to see the casket. He couldn’t even remember his mother’s age. (pg. 25) This relationship is the most sad and simultaneously uninteresting one in the book.
Maman and Perez seemed to have the tightest relationship between the six brought up. They were “inseparable” (pg. 13) and they used to be teased before the death of Maman. Chants like “Perez has a fiancee,” (pg. 13) were common among the other residents. Perez was the only resident allowed to attend Maman’s funeral, which makes me believe that this relationship was most rooted in friendship and companionship. It’s interesting to think that within the few years Maman spent in the nursing home that she found another person who she just understands naturally, and that this man was more loyal to her than her own son had been. This was the most loyal relationship in the book so far.
Meursault and Marie may have the most sexual relationship in the book, given that he seemed to have an unwavering obsession with the woman’s breasts. He ran into her at the beach and continued to hang around with her the rest of his time at the beach. They proceeded to go to a movie that evening where he was still, “fondling her breasts.” (pg. 20) She came back to his apartment for the night and left the next morning. At a later date, he had plans set with her where he instantly thought of the “firm shape of her breasts,” (pg. 34) when she showed up in a dress. The duo does a lot more kissing than they do talking and I think that contributes to the strong sexual relationship between them. They definitely aren’t serious in Meursault’s eyes yet Marie keeps trying to push for more, asking about marriage, love, etc. Meursault doesn’t seem to really have emotions or reactions yet, which is an extremely odd character trait. I’d consider the play of events decently shallow for the moment, given that we have no prior understanding to his relationship to Marie other than the fact that they used to have “a thing.”
Salamano and his dog have what is seen to me as a unique relationship (however just after reading the bottom of page 26 I believed it to be the sweetest relationship because of all the time they spent together) (maybe that’s just because my heart melts a little at the thought of all dogs). However, Meursault goes further into detail then on how Salamano refers to his dog as a, “Filthy, stinking bastard!” (pg. 27) When asked what the dog did, Salamano states that he’s always there. A statement which really saddens me to hear because it proves that the eight years Salamano and his dog have spent together actually drew them apart rather than bringing them together.
Meursault seems to find Raymond very interesting. He doesn’t quite seek Raymond so as to spend time together, but he does enjoy when they are together. They have the most indifferent relationship, where it seems that Meursault would’ve had the same night whether Raymond stopped by or not. However, Raymond admits that he has a “short fuse,” (pg. 29) and tells a story about how he got in a fist fight on the side of the road. Raymond doesn’t appear to have many friends because no one is very interested to hear what he has to say, however Meursault finds himself time and time again extremely interested in what Raymond has to say, whether it is about his fight or his mistress. This relationship might be the most interesting, just because of how interested Meursault is the entire time the two men are together.
However Raymond and his mistress have by far the most interesting relationship. After small piece of evidence after small piece of evidence, Raymond decided that he had enough to believe that she was cheating on him. So he proceeded to yell at the woman, “You don’t see how good you have it with me,” (pg. 31) and battered her until she bled. It was honestly no surprise that the woman and him didn’t make it because he was a jerk. But Raymond was still bothered by her because he still had “sexual feelings” (pg. 31) for her. He has a nasty form of vengeance though, because he beats her again on page 37. I don’t believe that this relationship is attributed as most sexual because we aren’t give any good instances or recounts, there are no positive words exchanged. Only negative thoughts and reactions.
Now, that is only my first half understandings and a provincial view on the story and I am enjoying the book to an extent - - but I can tell it must require more of an acquired taste.
