In his classic novel The Outsider (1942), Camus depicts Meursault as such kind of extreme existentialist individual who is indifferent about his life and who refuses to conform to social norms. We, the readers of this novel, are stopped by his astonishing and surprising comment in the beginning of the novel when he says, “My mother died today. Or may be yesterday, I don’t know". (The Outsider, 49) Here Meursault shows himself as a complete indifferent man about human relationship. Although Meursault is an indifferent sort of person, he has committed such kind misdeeds which are not accepted and allowed by the modern society. His random acts of violence without any regret have proved him guilty in the eyes of the society and the law. As the story progresses to the end, we can realize that Meursault is just a victim of the contemporary society, social thoughts and beliefs. Nobody can deny that Meursault is not a professional criminal. In fact, he is in different about his life because he cannot avoid the truth. In other words, Camus’s Meursault doesn’t know how to tell a lie to others to cover up the truth inside.
Lecturer in English, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
