Meursault Wants to Kill

It is hard to decipher just what motivates Meursault in The Stranger. He tells his story as if he is essentially emotionless and acts totally in the present, basing his actions only on his state of physical comfort or discomfort. I would like to propose this detachment of his is a subconscious defense mechanism thrown up to prevent him from doing harm to himself and others. This defense mechanism is guarding from one thing in particular: Meursault’s desire to kill, and the events that lead to Meursault killing the Arab on the beach constitute a breakdown in these defense messages.

At the start of The Stranger, we are struck my Meursault’s apparent disinterest and lack of grief at his mother’s funeral. Based on this proposed interpretation of his character, this can be explained as a result of Meursault subconsciously destroying any emotional response he might have to death in order to prevent his desire to inflict it. During the funeral scene we see the imagery of an overbearing sun, red dirt, and uncomfortable heat which reappears during the murder scene. This can be interpreted as an inner conflict of Meursault’s as the walls protecting him from emotions associated with death are assaulted by the numerous and powerful emotions associated with the death of his mother. The same defenses that block out Meursault’s desire to kill inadvertently prevent him from grieving for his mother.

The beach scene near the end of part one is a mystery in many ways. It is hard to explain Meursault’s motivation for repeatedly returning to the beach. One explanation is that he simply wants to kill the Arab. The entire Raymond story line is Meursault’s journey to the murder he commits, and this is signified by the fact the part one ends abruptly upon his shooting the Arab. Raymond’s violent nature slowly works away at Meursault’s defenses and his innate desire to kill is brought ever closer to the surface. The intensity of the events at the beach turn this gradual undermining into a full-on assault. The violence Meursault witnesses in the first fight is enough to greatly accelerate the deterioration of his defenses, and his taking the gun from Raymond is an admission of near defeat. The intense physical discomfort Meursault feels after the second engagement and preceding the third is a manifestation of his psychological defenses’ final stand against his desire to kill, and in the end this desire wins out. He kills the Arab, and his desire to kill satiated for the present, his shields are again raised. These shields prevent him from recognizing the potential impact of his actions and keep him from even trying to do anything to save himself from punishment.

Maybe.