The Stranger by Albert Camus is one of the most varied novels of all time from my perspective. To be put in a situation where one is unable to feel any emotion or will for living, it is confusing, and most definitely concerning, to find that Meursault finds humour in his situation. The novel itself deals with topics such as revenge, nihilism, and the importance of viewing executions, yet, there are undertones of humour that don’t seem like they are meant to balance the mood of the novel, but instead meant to further alienate Meursault from the reader, and make the reader more uncomfortable.
One specific quote where this is true is: “Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?" "Yes," I said.”. This conversation on page 73, between Meursault and the prison chaplain, was probably the most humorous of all the interactions in the novel, as it showed the extreme contrast between Meursault and the rest of society. As other would scramble to try and get him to understand his deed, ask for forgiveness, and find solace in religion, Meursault simply did not care for any of it, not giving anyone or anything a second thought. There was no reasoning, no emotion, no morality, or no thought process when dealing with the prison chaplain, even thought this was most likely the last conversation of his life with another person. The conversation reminds me of a debate between politicians where one is trying to lead another into a moral dilemma, whereas the other finds the moral dilemma to be a solution. This type of humor is quite rare in both reality and novels, so to find it so prevalent in this novel is quite telling of Camus’ writing preferences in general. He is willing to hit any boundary without a care for the consequences or the reader’s preference, which eventually works in his favor, as it is so far from the ordinary.
Another quote depicting the odd and almost sadistic humor of the novel was: “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure” on the first page of the novel. In hindsight, there would be no better way to introduce a character such as Monsieur, in the way that Camus did. To apply indifference to possibly the worst pain a human can undergo, is as shocking as it is saddening, yet for Monsieur it comes off as humorous. It doesn’t seem like he is trying to be indifferent, or is trying to be funny, or is trying to be anything really, he is just being himself: blatant, unapologetic, and truthful above all else. It can also be seen that this one line proves his guilt and lack of remorse for the whole murder trial. There was no doubt he was guilty or lacked remorse, from the very first sentence in the novel. There is a sense of dark humour that accompanies this quote, which I find exponentially more difficult to communicate as I read over the quote. What is supposed to be funny about forgetting when your own mother died, whether it was yesterday or the day before. From what I feel, it's just a sense of pure ridiculousness, but it doesn’t seem to work in any other circumstance or novel that I have read, as it feels completely genuine.
The third quote that I took as humorous in the novel was: “On my way out I was even going to shake his hand, but I remembered just in time that I'd killed a man.” This quote is most likely funny to me just due to his pure ignorance of the situation of the whole. He knew he had killed the Arab, he knew he was not going to win the case, and he most likely knew he would either be killed or jailed for life, to think that he could have a friendly conversation with all these thoughts spinning around his head would be impossible, instead, nothing was going through his head. I usually never find ignorance as being humorous, as it angers me that people would blatantly push a certain thought process or perspective to the side without accounting for it, except in the case of Monsieur, he legitimately does not realize the weight of any of his actions. He does not care about the consequences or the punishment he is about to receive, instead he goes on about his days as if nothing had happened at all.
Humour in this work is unlike any type of comedy I’ve ever experienced in literature. It’s a dark, unapologetic, humor created by genuine ignorance, that isn’t meant to actually do anything in terms of plot or character development. Rather, it reflects Monsieurs thought process and indifference to life. He himself does not attempt to do anything in the novel, he doesn’t even attempt to plead innocence in the murder case, instead he goes about his life in a very nihilistic approach, not caring about the result of anything in his life, other than the attendance of his execution, which he hopes is full of spectators for some odd reason. The humor, overall, gives a sense of realism to the character of Monsieur, as it shows that all parts of him are socially alienated, not just his thoughts. If he were to be normal socially, physically, and emotionally, there would be no sense of realism, it would be more of a split personality. In the end, the humor is what separates Monsieur from a unrelatable psychopath, to a frighteningly relatable man bored with the idea of life.
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