Meursault's Safe Place During the Trial
Meursault’s prison cell becomes the only place he feels safe in during the trial. At first, the cell being a place he looks forward to spending time in surprised me, but then I remembered his uneasiness around others and in external environments. Being around many people at once is something Meursault feels uncomfortable with before the trial, but his feelings are highlighted in the courtroom. For example, he thinks, “But all the long speeches, all the interminable days and hours that people had spent talking about my soul, had left me with the impression of a colorless swirling river that was making me dizzy (Camus 104). Being around many people makes Meursault feel sick, sweaty, and dizzy. He is never truly at peace around others and thoughts concerning sensory aspects of his environment occupy his mind. Meursault’s appreciation for his cell is signified when he thinks, “The utter pointlessness of whatever I was doing there seized me by the throat, and all I wanted was to get it over with and get back to my cell and sleep” (Camus 105). This thought initially shocked me, as I could not imagine a prison cell being a comfort place. However, his desire to go back there signifies his uneasiness the courtroom full of people.
Sure, anyone might feel uncomfortable in a courtroom, but Meursault prefers being isolated before the trial even starts. For example, he feels uncomfortable at his mom’s funeral in a room full of people who once knew her. During the funeral, he thinks, “I noticed that for quite some time the countryside had been bustling with the sound of insects and the crackling of grass. The sweat was pouring down my face” (Camus 16). When Meursault feels nervous, he becomes bothered by heat and sounds. During this important event, all he can think about is what makes him uncomfortable, which is sparked by being around others. Based on how Meursault reacts to being around others, the cell is the only place he can be truly alone and free from disturbance from others. In his cell, he does not have to worry about expressing himself correctly or acting in a socially acceptable way. Meursault’s desire to be in his cell signifies how disturbed he is by aspects of the outside world and other people. His need to be alone to truly feel peaceful is another aspect of his identity that challenges the social expectations that he already strays from, giving people around him more of a reason to view him as a dangerous threat to society.
I think Meursault feels especially uncomfortable around other people because he is scared of them judging him. Like you mentioned, he felt uncomfortable around the elders at his mother's funeral, and said that they were "like a jury" (or something like that), who's primary job is to judge people. In this way, it makes sense that he feels more comfortable in his cell than the courtroom, where he is actively being judged. I didn't think about how this could add to his dangerous appearance, but that does make sense - we tend to find antisocial people more intimidating than those that are friendly and outgoing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post, and an entertaining observation I hadn't noticed. During his execution, Meursault is made a villain and dehumanized for a crime that seems, to him, relatively straight forward. On top of the constant stream of activity is a fundamental questioning of his character; he is not on trial for just a crime, he is on trial for being himself, somehow. It's easy to see how this would exhaust a person, and make him wish even to be locked in a jail cell.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really interesting! Meursault seems to be incredibly uncomfortable when he is surrounded by people. However, I'm not sure he prefers to be alone in general since he does seem to have a good time with his friends, like Celeste and Marie. I think it's more that he's afraid of the "crowd" somehow than people in general. He feels judged by people he doesn't know and that stresses him out.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if his unease with human interaction is a factor of his disconnect with himself or the other way around. Also, adding to Mikayla's point, more outspoken people tend to be conceived as more genuine, so that definitely contributed to other's negative perceptions of Meursault.
ReplyDeleteYeah I mean Meursault is really interesting in just his behaviors... Especially when he would just sit on his balcony for hours at a time. Honestly, it is kind of fascinating to just think about how Meursault would act in a different scenario; if he had the choice to just live in a cell for years on end and then see how he would act after being released.
ReplyDeleteThis a cool post that focused on something I didn't even really consider when I first this book. I agree a lot with what you wrote, as it's definitely clear from the very beginning of the novel that Meursault really does enjoy being alone, such as the episode when he is chainsmoking cigarettes on the balcony silently all day.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of the scene of Meursault just sitting in his apartment, barely doing anything. The apartment and the cell seem to serve similar purposes as a safe space from society, where he cannot be judged. But even then, he did have some interactions with society, like the people saying "we won," so I wonder if there is some level of connection that is tolerable for him.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! It's definitely true that Meursault seems uncomfortable around other people, and so, as bleak as it is, his prison cell offers an escape from that. I think this trait makes Meursault feel more sympathetic to me, since it shows that he's aware of and kind of insecure about the ways he doesn't fit society's expectations. His trial confirms what he's been anxious about all along—that people will judge him for the ways he doesn't "perform" properly while in public.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a bunch of blogs talking about Mersault's experience in the prison cell and how it changes him but I really like your take on how his isolation free of disturbances and judgement leads him to finally experience some form of peace or even enlightenment. To me, the most interesting part about Mersault being more comfortable and more "free" in the cell is that is shows differently he perceives social situations as opposed to his actual physical surroundings. Mersault feels more threatened by the idea of social ostricization than he is at the idea of being literally incarcerated. To Mersault, being judged in a social atmosphere is more unbearable than actually being stuck in prison to the point where he feels more welcome and free from judgement in a cell, which why we see him find peace and have a posititve change in heart during his final days.
ReplyDeleteMeursault is able to develop a bit of a routine inside his prison cell. I think your argument makes a lot of sense for why his prison cell is his safe space. He doesn't feel the judgement of the outside world and other people that he is usually so concerned with, which makes isolation easier for him.
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