Apathetic Demeanors
Many people in today’s society view psychopaths and sociopaths as ruthless serial killers who are menaces to the peace of society. Albert Camus’s novella, The Stranger, provides another look at a psychopathic and sociopathic characteristics in a person. Meursault, the protagonist in Camus’s novella, exhibits psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies; although Meursault displays both, he is more closely aligned with a sociopath which eventually leads to his execution.
Meursault’s psychopathic outbursts and feelings cause him to take radical action against an innocent man and expose feelings about his mother which eventually leads to Meursault’s trial. An article titled “Psychopath vs. Sociopath: What 's the Difference”, written by Natasha Tracy, draws the line between psychopaths’ and sociopaths’ traits. Tracy details in her article that psychopaths “appear to have no concern whatsoever of the consequences” of actions they take (Tracy 3). This trait of carelessness depicts Meursault to some degree. In Camus’s novella, Meursault shoots an Arab man on the beach for no logical reason. During the murder, Meursault thinks of the “long flashing blade cutting at my forehead…[,] the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead…[, and] the scorching blade [that] slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes” (Camus 59). The thoughts running through Meursault 's mind causes him to pull the trigger; Meursault is not thinking about what will happen if he kills