The Stranger (intro paragraph)

Albert Camus' novel, The Stranger, not only explores the meaninglessness of human life, but also the intense infatuation with the external world versus the internal world. The detached protagonist, Meursault, immediately reveals himself as a lost, emotionless individual in the beginning of the novel. Throughout The Stranger, Meursault constantly diverts his attention to his inner core, his intimate, yet solely physical relationship with Marie, his external life, and the extraneous components of his surroundings. While Meursault introduces the novel with an aloof reaction to his mother's death, his depravation in the prison cell at the beginning of part 2 causes him to focus on the internal as opposed to the external, unusually disclosing emotional information about Marie and shockingly, his mother.