Comparing Meursault In The Stranger And The Metamorphosis
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The Stranger and The Metamorphosis are two very different books, but they share an underlying theme. Balancing your care between others and yourself is essential to your wellbeing. Caring too little or too much about yourself can have negative effects on your life.
In The Metamorphosis, Gregor focuses much of his attention on the wellbeing of his family. This leads him to neglect himself. On the other side, Meursault in The Stranger almost always puts himself first. This thinking ends up causing him a lot of grief at the end of the novel. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor is working at a job that he hates, and is under a lot of stress. He wants to quit, but he knows that it is in the best interest of his family for him to stay. We learn this on…show more content… During this chapter is the first time where we see how Meursault deals with an emotional situation. At the funeral, Meursault does not cry, or show any emotion that would indicate that he was affected by this. He focuses more on how hot he is rather than the funeral. Lather in the novel, this is explained. “I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings” (64). He then goes on to explain that he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral because he was hot and tired. In the second chapter, Meursault has dinner with Raymond, his neighbor. At this time, Raymond tells Meursault that he thinks that his mistress is cheating on him. He asks Meursault to write a letter to her, describing what he wants to do to her. Meursault does this, thinking “I tried my best to please Raymond, because I didn’t have any reason not to please him” (32). Meursault does these types of things throughout the novel. He does not step in when Raymond beats the girl, or when Salamono beats his dog. He also agrees to marry Marie because she wants to. Towards the end, Meursault explains that he does this because he finds it easier to just go along with what people say, rather than try to correct it. He also says that he does this in situations when he really doesn't want to be there. In the end, the prosecutor uses Meursault’s selfishness to convict him. He