The following are my notes from reading The Stranger by Camus. Some are universal; some are very personal. As with the work itself, these distinctions will be left to the reader.
He lives his life devoid of context. No past or future, no emotions, no involvement. He has very little theory of mind, little introspection, a poor understanding of social cues. Some similarities to autism, some similarities to trauma (which are the same). He refuses to lie and does not understand why he would lie, or how humans play at language. His death is devoid of meaning, as is his life. He is taken advantage of by everyone he meets. I see similarities, and a warning, and thank goodness for NAC to get me out of this rut. I don’t want to end up like him. His people are terrible. He’s terrible, by association. He puts his own whims ahead of the defence of others and I find it absolutely detestable.
People with a bad reputation are reviled because of the danger they bring or unpleasantness associated; it does tar, and it tars for good reason. I am tarred; perhaps, it will untar soon. The modern world is more volatile.
We need to take stock, we need connection to the past. We must know that we have inertia — an emotional bearing that takes time to change. “Mercurial” is seldom a positive descriptor — it can be a synonym to dishonest. We need to be kind to ourselves when this happens.
Our culture and our context provide grounding. They provide what we want to do. I did not know he should not have offered a cigarette or accepted a coffee during his vigil; but he did know, or he should have known. He stood apart, isolated from the norms. The prosecutor remarked he should not be part of society, but he was already removed! Removed by his actions, removed by his ignorance or apathy, removed by everything he did or failed to do! You need to get roots. You must go native. “Nomad” is a disparaging term; a wanderer without a home, without comfort, without backing, without a tribe
I’m starting to realize Montreal is my home. That I need to acquire French. That the culture IS how I act; it was foreign in Portland. Nice, but foreign. Not too much, it was similar to the land of my youth, but I needed a guide and likely made continuous minor missteps. I make fewer where I’ve made my home. I’ve learned the system. I know the others from friends; but in New Zealand I would likely be lost. “Come From Away” is a strong sentiment for a reason.
We need an individual value system. It need not be exclusionary, or rude, but when asked if there are things you would not do, the answer should be yes. He was an unscrupulous individual with no ambition. A drop-out, a failure, with pearls cast before this swine.
We need to be in each other’s lives. We need to be part of a society. And this means having shared morals, and enforcing the moral code. Our main character strayed outside morality; but he never enforced a code on anyone. His community was full of individuals with mixed morality, which means mostly negative morality. He had no values. He stood for nothing; indeed, he fell for “anything”. A patsy for a pimp. And he saw nothing wrong with it even through his execution. The sort of social disparagement and encouragement that is so maligned in small towns is important. I disagree strongly with the particular values enforced, but you NEED values shared by your community. Else, we have nothing, all alone, we’re all strangers.