Meursault, the main character of Albert Camus's The Stranger, is an intriguing individual with a complicated relationship with the world around him. He is curious by nature and often questions the reality and purpose of the situations in which he finds himself. He often wonders if an interaction is “natural” or not. What he means by this remains unclear as the story progresses, but we can infer that he is trying to examine the normalcy of everyday situations and whether or not they are useful - whether interactions actually matter or not. A non-religious skeptic, Meursault is rather critical of our existence. Meursault is unique: he follows a unique routine and has a unique outlook on life. Instead of just judging him as different from most people and condemning his violent mentality, we should instead learn from him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayFor most of the beginning of the story, Meursault lives a fairly normal life. However, he is more reserved than most people. The death of his mother, who had already been living in a retirement home for a long time before her death, did not affect him. But he is visibly indifferent; Meursault seems to view his mother's funeral as an obligation rather than a celebration to honor her life. Throughout the time he spends at his wake, he is repeatedly annoyed by funeral attendants making noise, but he is also annoyed when the room is completely silent. While going to church for his mother's funeral, Meursault curiously accepts an idea proposed to him by a nurse: either he should walk quickly to the church and end up sweating because of the physical effort required. , or walk slowly and end up sweating from the heat of the midday sun. Following the theme of questioning whether our existence really matters, Meursault simply accepts the inevitability of sweating and doesn't waste his time trying to fix a situation over which he has no control. However, he views the heat and the long walk as an inconvenience, instead of seeing them as necessary steps to honor his mother's life. He would rather be able to go about his daily business at home than take detours for any reason, even if it's out of custom to honor the woman who raised him. Meursault's daily life is simple; he has a day job like everyone else and spends his free time at home or relaxing with his friend Marie. He values ​​routine much more than most people, and this may be difficult to understand, but such a mindset deserves respect. Meursault has a comfort zone; the one he doesn't want to get away from. He's perfectly happy living in this comfort zone, but others don't seem to understand this behavior. Later in the story, during the trial, several witnesses who testify against Meursault describe him as a cold and indifferent person. The prosecutor, unaware of Meursault's unique state of mind, notes that "the day after his mother's death, [Meursault] was swimming, starting a questionable affair and going to the cinema" ( Camus, 94 years old). This comes only after his mother's guardian defamed Meursault in the eyes of the jury by emphasizing that he "did not want to see [his] mother, that [he] had smoked and slept a little, and that [ he] had had coffee.” (Camus, 90 years old); the jury notes that Meursault is content to go about his normal activities at the wake and does not go beyond to show the slightest emotion. The way Meursault behaves leaves her perplexed.most people; we're not used to someone who seems to show so little desire to break away from routine. However, his behavior is not harmful, even if others consider it that way. One of Meursault's biggest societal taboos, living in the mid-20th century, is being an atheist. When Meursault first meets the magistrate presiding over his trial, he brandishes a cross in Meursault's face as if to cleanse him of his sin and make a statement about his lack of religion, as he "waved the crucifix almost directly at- above [Meursault’s] head” (Camus, 68). This interaction immediately diminishes Meursault's chances of being exonerated of the charges against him, even though the judge appears fairly impartial during the remainder of the trial. Remarkably, Meursault remains calm while the judge attacks him extremely aggressively. He does not try to defend himself or his opinions, simply in order to exclude himself from any unnecessary conflict. Interestingly, as he has done before, Meursault questions how natural the situation was; whether or not this was really supposed to happen, while noting that subsequent interactions were perfectly natural and seemed to flow very well. He seems to want to justify the judge's behavior as simply being the result of his words; as if it was inevitable that the judge would attack him because of his passion for his religion. This questioning of fate will become crucial later in the story, as Meursault's execution approaches. In prison, Meursault tries not to spend most of his time in his cell wasting away; he reads books, looks at the sky, and tries to improve his memory in an effort to make the most of this flawed experience from his painstakingly mundane routine. Sometimes he “would think about [his] room and, in [his] imagination, [he] would start in a corner and go around the room, mentally noting everything that happened on his way” (Camus, 78 years). On closer inspection, Meursault is simply creating a new routine. He walks around his cell and spends eighteen hours sleeping every day. Just like the day after his mother's funeral, Meursault tries not to make his stay in prison an embarrassment. As long as he has to deal with something, he might as well make the best of it and try to keep his life as undisturbed as possible. As such, even though he is not accredited for this, he appears to behave in a way that a model inmate would behave. He is diligent, reserved and causes no problems in prison. As part of his routine, Meursault notices and later reads a newspaper clipping about an ironic story in Czechoslovakia. A man was murdered by his mother and sister who wanted to steal his fortune, while he slept in the hotel they managed. Unfortunately, both men did not know that this man was their respective son and brother, as he had spent years away from home. Meursault found the story a little confusing and somewhat ironic. He questioned how "natural" everything was about the events that happened, which he has done many times in the past, including with the judge. The situation was not inevitable since the family chose to murder the man. This, however, could have been completely avoided if the man had announced himself to them before standing there and trying to surprise them. The fact that Meursault is interested in the situation is relevant because he wants to know whether or not this was actually supposed to happen and what could have prevented it, just like in his own case. Seeing Marie for the first and only time in prison, Meursault does not seem to gain much from his meeting with her, if anything...