Meursault's Motives In The Stranger

An Examination of Meursault’s Motive in The Stranger

Many people who read The Stranger conclude that Meursault’s murder of the Arab was not deliberate because of his passive and apathetic personality within the novel, especially exhibiting emotional indifference to the people around him. His murder of the Arab at first seems to be completely thoughtless and impulsive. It is reasonable to assume that because of his personality, he would not have or develop a motive. However, that could not be further from the truth. The novel presents many motivations for Meursault throughout the novel. Leigh Segars, author of the long-standing legal encyclopedia Nolo, defines deliberate as the defendant contemplating the act and its consequences, then following

His motivation against the sun can be shown many times, including when he was retreating from Maman’s funeral when he felt “blood pounding in his temples” (Camus, Stranger 17). In Patrick McCarthy’s The Stranger book length analysis, he discusses how Meursault feels threatened by the sun in the novel, especially during the funeral (18). So, during the heatwave when he was approaching the Arab, he felt the same emotions of being threatened and feeling unable to escape the sun. John P. Collins writes a similar view in his character analysis of Meursault. He states that Meursault was physically exhausted and burned out by the sun and tries to seek the shade guarded by the Arab, as well as the cool water (Two Antiheroes 118). Meursault says to the jury that the reason for his murder was because of the sun, Meursault felt that he needed to escape it. The sun is a common theme throughout the book. During Maman’s funeral, it represents all of Meursault’s negative emotions, so that negativity is perpetuated during the murder. Meursault’s simplistic reasoning aligns with the theming of his character, that he does not lie nor indulge in human societal norms. Adrian Van Den Hoven in The Quest for a Motive in Camus’ The Stranger talks about Meursault’s character like this. He says his human needs do not go beyond food, drinking, sex, safety, and the beach (Hoven 213). This solidifies his simplistic motive for a simplistic man, and this is the most reasonable motivation considering Meursault’s personality. Lastly, it is important to remember that the Arab was “brandishing a knife,” (Scherr 200) which ties back into the Stranger when Meursault said that if the Arab drew his knife, he would shoot. Not only did he draw the knife, but the knife shone onto his forehead, the light reflected off the knife, and caused sweat to get into Meursault’s eyes (Camus, Stranger 59). Due to his limited vision, the