In The Stranger, the sun seems to dictate all of Meursalt’s emotions. Depending on how hot it is he becomes drowsy, irritated or joyful. This is quite the range for Meursalt, who has relatively few emotions throughout the novel. But mostly, the sun’s heat is extremely oppressive and makes Meursalt anxious and agitated. This struck me as weird, since the sun in literature is usually described as comforting and beautiful. On the other hand, I understand how the sun could be mostly a curse in a country whose landscape is largely desert.
But in the novel the sun
goes beyond just being an annoyance -- it actively torments Meursalt and plays
a direct role in the Arab’s murder. But the sun’s antagonism came in stages.
Initially, Meursalt enjoyed the sun, which made him doze off. But later on he
becomes annoyed with it. Meursalt mentions “hot sand underfoot,” indicating his
annoyance before murder had ever entered his mind. Meursalt then describes how
the sun
was "shining almost directly overhead into the sand," making the temperature unbearable and leading to the irritation that clouds his judgement (such as it is) and makes him feel trapped. More significantly, as the first standoff with the Arabs approaches, Meursalt notices that "the sun looked red to [him] now," foreshadowing the violence to come. The ultimate omen is the "keen blade of light flashing up from the knife, scarring my eyelashes, and gouging into my eyeballs." This directly links the sun to the murder, as an 'active participant' and the only real motive Meursalt has.
Re-examining chapter 6, we find more evidence of the sun's direct antagonism. The sun "beats down on [Meursalt's] bare head," driving him on. It "was starting to burn his cheeks," inflicting actual pain that he wants to avoid, driving his progress along the sand. Lastly, there is the glint off the knife. All these quotes combined give the picture that the sun begins antagonizing Meursalt, then physically pushing Meursalt so much that he kills another person.
Nonetheless, Meursalt is still to blame. The sun intensifies the background restlessness and anxiety that were already present in him, and its actual control comes from Meursalt's strong responses to the physical world. The extreme discomfort leads Meursalt to act on these negative emotions and his impulses, thus actively pushing him towards violence.
was "shining almost directly overhead into the sand," making the temperature unbearable and leading to the irritation that clouds his judgement (such as it is) and makes him feel trapped. More significantly, as the first standoff with the Arabs approaches, Meursalt notices that "the sun looked red to [him] now," foreshadowing the violence to come. The ultimate omen is the "keen blade of light flashing up from the knife, scarring my eyelashes, and gouging into my eyeballs." This directly links the sun to the murder, as an 'active participant' and the only real motive Meursalt has.
Re-examining chapter 6, we find more evidence of the sun's direct antagonism. The sun "beats down on [Meursalt's] bare head," driving him on. It "was starting to burn his cheeks," inflicting actual pain that he wants to avoid, driving his progress along the sand. Lastly, there is the glint off the knife. All these quotes combined give the picture that the sun begins antagonizing Meursalt, then physically pushing Meursalt so much that he kills another person.
Nonetheless, Meursalt is still to blame. The sun intensifies the background restlessness and anxiety that were already present in him, and its actual control comes from Meursalt's strong responses to the physical world. The extreme discomfort leads Meursalt to act on these negative emotions and his impulses, thus actively pushing him towards violence.
One of the things we have discussed a lot in class recently is that Meursault is very much driven by his primal, animalistic urges, and his reaction to the sun is just another part of that. If he is hot, or has sunlight in his eyes, he will do anything to make such irritations go away, even commit murder. Of course, as you mention, we cannot blame him outright for wanting to get out of the killer Algerian sun.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there's some significance to the fact that he enjoys the sun's presence initially. Because, like you said, at first it actually makes him forget the malaise he had been experiencing several hours before. Maybe it just illustrates that the outside world has complete control over his emotions; both positive and negative? I'm really not sure what to make of it.
ReplyDeleteI never realized before that Meursault actually enjoyed the sun at the beginning of the book. That's when he's living his life relatively peacefully, and his "nothing matters" attitude hasn't really been put to the test yet. Throughout the book his reactions to the sun's heat and light get more and more extreme, from mild annoyance to lashing out and shooting the Arab. Meursault can't fight the sun, so he takes his anger out on other people.
ReplyDeleteReading this post caused me to think a little more about the sun's role in the novel. Meursault's explanation that the sun caused his actions came across to me as reflecting his indifference or lack of a motive. Now I wonder if the sun was an otherwise insignificant factor, "the final straw," that pushed Meursault off the edge when it was added to his already existing problems (or as you put it, "background restlessness and anxiety). What these problems could be range from his mother's death to Meursault's dealings with the Arabs right before the murder--it's hard to know because of Meursault's indifference. Regardless, I agree that the sun intensified Meursault's negative feelings in the situation.
ReplyDelete