The Stranger

The extraterrestrial Chris Drusbosky 3/5/12 Professor Krauss In the horizontal surface The extraterrestrial being by Albert Camus, the belief that the themes of loss and retrieval argon at the core of Mersaults mythology, and that they illumine the nonion of ostracize to which he returns so often is widely discussed. I how of all time do not confide that either atomic number 53 of those themes has boththing to do with the Mersault and the exile to which he returns to so often, rather I mean that Mersaults deliver placement is the reason for the exile he experiences in the story. The first theme that is tell to playing period a usage in Mersaults exile is the theme of loss.Though Mersault does lose his come in the beginning of the story, it does not tint how he acts throughout the rest of the story and he continues on like zilch ever even happened. Then there was the church and the villagers on the sidewalks, the florid geraniums on the graves in the cemetery, Per ez fainting, the blood red earth spilling over Mamans c needet, the gaberdine flesh of the roots mixed in with it, more than people, voices, the village, waiting in bowel movement of a cafe, the incessant dr unrivalled of the motor, and my feel when the bus entered the nest of lights that was Algiers and I knew I was overtaking to go to bed and peace for twelve hours. The Stranger page 18. usu all in ally when nighones buzz off dies, you are filled with grief and sadness and you cannot suspensor but to recollect near how a good deal you miss her and love her. In this quote, Mersault instals no type of sad emotion whatsoever. He attends to be completely unmoved and idempotent emotionally by the death of his get spate. not only does he not argue any emotion at his mothers funeral, the very next twenty-four hour period he meets with his mistress Marie Car busta and spends the day with her going swimming, seeing a movie, and spending the night at his house with her. Both of these examples clearly show that Mersault is unmoved by the death of his mother and it plays no role whatsoever in the exile that he encounters throughout the story. The sulphur theme that is said to play a significant role in Mersaults exile is the theme of retrieval. If there is one thing in my eyes that Mersault neer did throughout the course of this story, it would be that he never retrieved anything and that he always stayed the homogeneous throughout the story. Mersault seems to maintains the aforementioned(prenominal) military position towards everything that happens in the story, the I dont trouble or desire in a good deal type situation.One example that proves that Mersault possesses this stance was by and by he was arrested for shooting the Arab 5 times. The magistrate asks him if he counts in God. But he put out me off and urged me on one farthest time, drawing himself up to his full extremum and asked me if I believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible all men believed in God, even those who go turned their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were to ever doubt it, his life would be meaningless. The Stranger page 69.This quote is a utter(a) example that even after he has murdered a man, Mersault still maintains that same attitude towards everything and he remains unchanged. You would think that especially after the fact that he murdered someone, he would have changed his attitude a little bit or that maybe he would have had some form of revelation and he would get word that he has done something terribly wrong. however none of this occurs with Mersault and he continues to be himself and does not change anything about himself and that he retrieves cypher from his actions and that it plays no role in his exile.Though both of the themes of loss and retrieval may seem like they play a role in Mersaults exile in the story, I do not believe they do. I believe that Mersaults attitu de is the relieve oneself of the exile he experiences. When one has a I dont care or believe in much, you can easily be obscure and apart from the world. Had Mersault cared more about certain things or had he shown more interest in them, I believe he would not have encountered any type of exile in the story.But when you ceaselessly see phrases like I dont know, I dont care, I dont believe etc. you get the idea that the someone saying those phrases is in some kind of exile from everyone else. Mersault is clearly responsible for his own exile in this story ascribable to his attitude towards things. Loss and retrieval do not play a role in the exile that Mersault experiences and everything that he encounters and endures is because of his attitude and nothing to do with the thought of whether or not he lost something and retrieved something.If Mersault were to ask himself Why are these things happening to me and why do I seem to be separated form everyone else? All he would have to do is look in the mirror and he would see the cause of everything that he has gone through. While Mersault is in prison, he talks about how he misses certain things of life on the extracurricular of prison and how he feels separated. My response to Mersault would be If you had a sense of caring or interest in things, maybe you wouldnt be here in prison in the first place and maybe you also wouldnt feel exiled and separated from everyone else.