Inklings of Sociopathy

At the beginning of The Stranger, it is immediately obvious that Meursault is not a neurotypical individual. His thoughts and behavior diverge noticeably from what would be considered socially acceptable, though the extent of his abnormality initially remains unclear. These notions of abnormality are confirmed at the halfway point of the novel, where Meursault’s sociopathic nature is revealed in his unprovoked, emotionless killing of an Arab man. Prior to the killing, Meursault’s mental state is kept ambiguous, though sociopathy is repeatedly alluded to in his unsettling behavior. Within retrospect, it becomes obvious that these behaviors were indicative of sociopathy or an adjacent underlying mental issue—however, when read without the context of Meursault's future violent actions, his actions seem more innocuous.

The first instance of Meursault's unusual emotionless pragmatism is seen in the opening scene of the book where he appears entirely unfazed by the news of his mother’s death. Though this may immediately give readers a bad impression of Meursault, it is possible to give him the benefit of the doubt because of a lack of sufficient context regarding the state of his relationship with his late mother. Though later passages indicate otherwise, there is a possibility that their relationship was strained due to any number of factors. Unfortunately, unhealthy parental relationships are not common, and can provide a possible explanation for a lack of emotion in the event of parental death. Alternatively, his emotionless reaction could be viewed as a form of dissociation stemming from extreme grief—an inability to process loss properly resulting in complete distancing from reality. This explanation would still indicatie some level of mental abnormality, specifically a divergence from the traditional five stages of grief, but nonetheless absolves him of blame for his apparent frivolity.

More unsettling than his failure to grieve his mother’s death is his lack of sympathy towards fellow attendees of his mother’s funeral. Meursault observes the grieving of the elderly people holding vigil in a strangely analytical, unsympathetic manner, even mentally reprimanding one of them for crying for an extended period of time: “The woman kept on crying. It surprised 

me, because I didn't know who she was. I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore” (Camus 10). When she finally stops crying, he callously remarks that “she finally shut up”(Camus 11). Later on the procession to the burial grounds, he emotionlessly observes Thomas Perez’s struggle to keep up with the procession, choosing not to intervene and offer help. Later, he coldly describes Perez’s tears of frustration and eventual fainting from exhaustion.

The final and most damning instance of Meursault’s sociopathy manifesting prior to his murder is seen in his interactions with his neighbors Salamano and Raymond. He sees nothing wrong with Salamano’s repeated abuse of his dog, instead describing the hateful dog-owner relationship in a sickeningly factual manner. Meursault’s friend Celeste (a normal, sensible person) repeatedly calls Salamano out for his “pitiful” treatment of the dog, but Meursault dismisses this judgment saying “but really, who’s to say?” (Camus 27). Though it is hard to get worse than openly supporting dog abuse, Meursault somehow manages to stoop even lower in his friendship with Raymond. He colludes with Raymond to manipulate a woman whom he is romantically involved with, thus allowing him to physically harm her. He later emotionlessly observes this domestic violence, refusing to call the police and later bearing false testimony in Raymonds favor to help him avoid legal trouble. Ironically, it is his morally compromising relationship with Raymond that indirectly leads him to murder an innocent man, thus fully exposing his sociopathic nature.