How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Matthew Ward's translation, published by Vintage International published in 1989.
Quote #21
He started out by saying that people were describing me as a taciturn and withdrawn person and he wanted to know what I thought. I answered, "It’s just that I don’t have much to say. So I keep quiet." (2.1.8)
Meursault attributes his having nothing to say to his passivity. Society apparently judges that other reasons, such as immorality or evil, account for his detachment.
Quote #22
Without working up to it, he asked if I loved Maman. I said, "Yes, the same as anyone," and the clerk, who up to then had been typing steadily, must have hit the wrong key, because he lost his place and had to go back. (2.1.9)
Either detachment, ignorance (about the concept of love) or logic accompanies Meursault’s answer. The clerk’s reaction represents society’s judgment that Meursault’s answer is due to detachment, or sociopathy.
Quote #23
To get to the visiting room I went down a long corridor, then down some stairs and, finally, another corridor[…]. The room was divided into three sections by two large grates that ran the length of the room. Between the two grates was a space of eight to ten meters which separated the visitors from the prisoners. I spotted Marie standing at the opposite end of the room. […] Because of the distance between the grates, the visitors and the prisoners were forced to speak very loud. (2.2.3)
The physical layout of the visiting room symbolizes the chasm between upstanding citizens of society and immoral criminals in prison. As if Meursault needed to be further separated or detached. Right.
Quote #24
She shouted again, "You’ll get out and we’ll get married!" I answered, "You think so?" but it was mainly just to say something. (2.2.7)
Whatever sense of closeness Meursault has developed for Marie is gone; the same detachment is all that remains.
Quote #25
He gave the policeman a warm handshake. I noticed then that everyone was waving and exchanging greetings and talking, as if they were in a club where people are glad to find themselves among others from the same world. That is how I explained to myself the strange impression I had of being odd man out, a kind of intruder. (2.3.4)
Why does Meursault refer to his feeling like an outsider as a "strange impression?" You’d think he would be used to such a feeling by now. This passage reminds us that Meursault is actually less aware than the reader of his own strange nature.
Quote #26
The reporters […] all had the same indifferent and somewhat snide look on their faces. One of them, however, much younger than the others, wearing gray flannels and a blue tie, had left his pen lying in front of him and was looking at me […] examining me closely without betraying any definable emotion. And I had the odd impression of being watched by myself. (2.3.7)
The courtroom spectators represent society; they are there to judge Meursault, the detached, nonconforming outsider. Ironically, however, the spectators are a pretty detached group themselves. Even more ironically, Meursault identifies with one of them, signifying that he is also beginning to judge himself by society’s rubric.
Quote #27
To another question [the director of the home] replied that he had been surprised by my calm the day of the funeral. He was asked what he meant by "calm." The director then looked down at the tips of his shoes and said that I hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that I hadn’t cried once, and that I had left right after the funeral without paying my last respects at her grave. (2.3.14)
Feeling no sadness over his mother’s death, Meursault’s detachment is starting to get him into real trouble.
Quote #28
[…] for the first time in years, I had this stupid urge to cry, because I could feel how much all these people hated me. (2.3.14)
Buckling under the pressure, Meursault eases up on his detachment. He is beginning to feel the force of condemnation against him.
Quote #29
[The caretaker] answered the questions put to him. He said I hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that I had smoked and slept some, and that I had had some coffee. It was then I felt a stirring go through the room and for the first time I realized that I was guilty. (2.3.15)
Interesting! Meursault realizes that he is guilty—of being cold-hearted, not of shooting the Arab. At this point, not only does he realize that he is on trial more for his character than his crime, but he condemns himself for that very character.
Quote #30
In a way, they seemed to be arguing the case as if it had nothing to do with me. Everything was happening without my participation. My fate was being decided without anyone so much as asking my opinion. (2.4.1)
Meursault accuses others of having his own sense of removal; they judge the case as though he isn’t there. It’s interesting, though, that this is how he treated other people (like the soldier on the bus, or Perez at the nursing home) up until now.
Quote #31
As if that blind rage has washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, I that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much life myself – so like a brother, really – I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate. (2.5.26)
Earlier Meursault felt isolation from the world, but he now feels kinship with it. Because he is indifferent, and so is the world, they find kinship in their indifference.