Quotes from the Stranger by Albert Camus
"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: 'Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday." Part 1, Chapter 1, pg. 3
Mersault's preoccupation with the exact date that his mother had passed genuinely perplexed me. This man had just lost his only family in the world and he was caught up in, what I believe to be, a frivolous detail. Off the bat, the book starts off with these lines, foreshadowing the disposition of a man that I have never before encountered. A man who speaks more how hot it was the day of his mother's funeral, than about how the death of his mother has effected him. A man who shows minimal emotion after what I would consider to be life altering events, the death of a mother and the act of murder. Instead of saying he was devastated about his mothers passing, or that he wishes he was with her during her last moments, he speaks very little about the emotional impact of a huge loss. On August 28th of this year, my grandfather passed away. He was 94 years old and died peacefully in his sleep at his home in the Dominican Republic. Three weeks later, on September 16, his wife and partner for 60 years, my grandmother, passed under similar conditions. While I cannot say for certainty, I believe she died of heartbreak. She was never the same after losing her partner, her best friend and the love of her life. My family and I were informed via telephone the day after their passing because their rural community of San Cristobal is frequently without phone service. I remember both phone calls rather vividly, as my rather had placed both on speaker phone. I remember the heartbreak that I felt, the devastation, the loneliness, but I do not remember anyone asking what date and time either of them passed. Instead, we all cried together and embraced each other. Particularly in the loss of my grandmother, I realize how death can impact a person's soul. My
Mersault's preoccupation with the exact date that his mother had passed genuinely perplexed me. This man had just lost his only family in the world and he was caught up in, what I believe to be, a frivolous detail. Off the bat, the book starts off with these lines, foreshadowing the disposition of a man that I have never before encountered. A man who speaks more how hot it was the day of his mother's funeral, than about how the death of his mother has effected him. A man who shows minimal emotion after what I would consider to be life altering events, the death of a mother and the act of murder. Instead of saying he was devastated about his mothers passing, or that he wishes he was with her during her last moments, he speaks very little about the emotional impact of a huge loss. On August 28th of this year, my grandfather passed away. He was 94 years old and died peacefully in his sleep at his home in the Dominican Republic. Three weeks later, on September 16, his wife and partner for 60 years, my grandmother, passed under similar conditions. While I cannot say for certainty, I believe she died of heartbreak. She was never the same after losing her partner, her best friend and the love of her life. My family and I were informed via telephone the day after their passing because their rural community of San Cristobal is frequently without phone service. I remember both phone calls rather vividly, as my rather had placed both on speaker phone. I remember the heartbreak that I felt, the devastation, the loneliness, but I do not remember anyone asking what date and time either of them passed. Instead, we all cried together and embraced each other. Particularly in the loss of my grandmother, I realize how death can impact a person's soul. My