Incestuous Longings in Camus’ The Stranger

The Stranger (1942) by Albert Camus is a canonical text taught to generations of high school students, including myself, as a narrative of existentialism and absurdism, philosophical inquiries that refer to the futile search for order, meaning, and purpose in a silent, indifferent universe. Camus’ novel has had an enduring impact on the literary canon in the supposed portrayal of its protagonist, Meursault, as a tragic hero who behaved according to his own internal code - in short, an embodiment of strong individualism in an apathetic world. In January 1955, Camus wrote, ‘I summarized The Stranger a long time ago, with a remark I admit was highly paradoxical: “In our society any man who does not weep at his mother's funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death. I only meant that the hero of my book is condemned because he does not play the game.” Camus implies his protagonist is sentenced to death because he appears to be devoid of feelings of grief and sadness, because he defies the social code. While Meursault's shooting of an unnamed Arabic man raises provocative, troubling questions about colonialism and the subjugation of the indigenous Arab population, such issues are beyond the scope of this essay. The focus here is on Meursault as a pathologically disturbed protagonist who responds to the object realm with apathy as defenses against repressed incestuous longings for the primary object, the mother.

Readers are introduced to Meursault's strange behavior and internal deadness at the memorial that precedes his mother's funeral. This gathering is the first scene in the novel; a narrative that begins with death suggests the overwhelming presence of Thanatos and destructiveness. At the memorial gathering Meursault appears robotic and empty of feelings while obsessed with the appearance, gestures, and behaviors of the other mourners. His most intense desire is for a cigarette, to help him expel the tension he experiences in the presence of the grieving assembly.