What Matters to Meursault

One thing that struck me when reading The Stranger was Meursault’s repeated assertion that things didn’t “matter” or “mean anything”. He uses this phrase throughout the book, and in a way it ties all the events from both halves of the book together. At times, I found it hard to understand what he was trying to say by this or even what the “it” even referred to, but going back and looking at the quotes, I think there are a few different types of situations where Meursault uses this phrase and he has different intentions in each one.

One of the most notable times this phrase is used is when Meursault responds to Marie asking if he loves her with “I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so” (Camus 35). Here, he seems to be saying that his love for Marie has no consequences and therefore doesn’t matter. Whether he loves her or not isn’t affecting his actions and so in his view, there is no point in reflecting on it further.

Meursault’s use of the phrase in reaction to his mother’s death seems similar to his use of the phrase with Marie at first. However, I think that Meursault’s actual intentions in this situation are almost opposite. Although he states that things don’t matter, it’s not his mother’s death he’s referring to and he doesn’t seem to have apathy for his mother’s death. It almost seems as though beneath the surface, Meursault views his emotions as the essence of the situation, and the surrounding action regarding the funeral as what doesn’t matter. The first time in the book that he uses the phrase is when Meursault reacts to the telegram informing him of his mother’s death and funeral, commenting “That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 3). I think that through this comment, Meursault is criticizing the fact that the telegram explicitly states the date of the funeral but not the date of his mother’s death, annoyed about the focus on the funeral instead of on his mother. Later, we see Meursault’s behavior at the funeral, and it seems clear that he doesn’t value the funeral or the traditions very much. He seems to feel that they have lost their connection to their purpose of helping grieve his mother. As he says when describing the people attending the funeral “I even had the impression that the dead woman lying in front of them didn’t mean anything to them” (Camus 11). Meursault’s statements about the lack of meaning at the funeral just mean that he doesn’t care about the funeral, they don’t mean that he doesn’t care about his mother.

In fact, later on when talking to his lawyer, Meursault admits “I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything.” (Camus 65). Here, I think he’s reflecting on his case and suggesting that he doesn’t think this fact could contribute to his defense. Overall I think Meursault’s repeated phrase that “It didn’t mean anything” doesn’t indicate a lack of emotion but instead is more about doubts as to how his emotions should be conveyed or what their connection to concrete actions is.