The Stranger , Part II

Now that Mersault is in jail, his true self was revealed. He seemed less human than ever but at the same time he was actually feeling something. In these few pages the same Mersault was revealed but with less sensitive emotions and remarks. I am very amazed with how Mersault acts and what he responded to his attorney and to the magistrate. For him it didn’t seem to matter to whom he was responding to, he was always very direct and honest. To him it didn’t seem to matter if telling the truth would ruin his case, he was always straightforward and sincere, he never doubted expressing what he felt. This until now has been the only good quality I’ve found in him and even though most of the questions he answers seem to shock the magistrate he never doubted to tell him exactly what had happened. I think this is a great quality in a person, to tell the truth, because most people in order to save themselves lie, but then you wont be able to live in peace. Mersault instead will be able to go to sleep every night with a clean conscious. Nevertheless I’m still trying to learn to understand Mersault and in this the first chapter of the second part I actually learned why emotions and feelings never seem to affect him.
“ I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings, the day I buried Maman, I was very tired and sleepy…rather Maman hadn’t died.” (65)

After the first interrogation with the magistrate, things seemed to be moving faster for Mersault. Already several months had passed and the investigation for his case was finally coming to an end. And after this I also learned something new about Mersault, how he was starting to like living in a cell. He’d seem to have adjusted to his new needs and entertained himself with what ever he could.
“ Apart from these annoyances, I wasn’t to unhappy. Once again the main problem was killing time. Eventually, once I learned how to remember things, I wasn’t bored at all…mentally noting everything there was on the way.” (78)