The novel opens with Meursault having just learned that his mother has died. His reaction to her death is far from typical, and he simply says, "Maman died today, or yesterday maybe, I don't know." As he prepares to leave town to attend the funeral, he expresses a sort of general discomfort. This discomfort can be seen in his extremely uncomfortable conversation with his boss, in which Meursault simply tells his boss, "it's n

After the procession, Meursault remembers little about the funeral itself. The only thing that he remembers were the words of the nurse who spoke to him as they entered the village. She told Meursault, "if you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church." These words have a powerful effect on Meursault and he seems to regard them as a metaphor for life when he says, "she was right, there was no way out." His actions and attitude at the funeral are indicative of the rest of his life. Meursault is truly a stranger in his own life. His is caught up in the absurdity of human existence, and is utterly unable to find any sort of meaning in his life. Nothing matters to him because he realizes that his own mortal existence, as well as everyone else's, will eventually come to an end. His preoccupation with his inescapable doom prevents him from caring about anything or anyone. His unemotional manner enables him to commit murder set on a sun-drenched Algerian

Some common words found in the essay are:
Albert Camus', Monsieur Perez's, Monsieur Perez, funeral meursault, monsieur perez, physical discomfort, human existence, novel meursault,
Approximate Word count = 702
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)