Camus's father was killed in a battle a few months after his birth, and his mother was an illiterate rendered deaf and almost mute by a childhood illness. While she worked as a charwoman, Camus was raised by a harsh and domineering grandmother. Sherr contends that Camus was conflicted over his feelings of rebellion against and hatred for these women. Further, he finds this conflict expressed in The Stranger: Meursault's crime is understood as a liberating matricide for which he is willing to accept the punishment of death.