P4+Explain+the+connection+between+Meursault's+unemotional+response+to+his+mother's+death+and+his+unemotional+relationship+with+Maria.

Meursault's relationship with his mother seemed to be a strange one. He really did not have an emotional connection with her, or anyone for that matter. It seems that he really did not care that she was dead because he said, “ Maman used to spend her time following me with her eyes, not saying a thing” (Camus 5). This could be interpreted by saying they just did not connect at all. They had nothing in common other than living together and being mother and son. The same could be said about his girlfriend Marie. Meursault could not establish a connection with her that would merit very much emotion so he just did not care. Because Meursault is unable to connect he unable to show emotion. - Bethany Lilly

5. The relationship with his mother must have not been a close one. When he explains "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure" (Camus 1). That kind of shows that he did not keep in very good touch with his mother. When he explains how it may have been today or yesterday it kind of shows that he does not care as much as he should. Also when he is told through a telegram instead of told in person it shows that he was not as involved with his mother for people to think it was important enough to make a trip. With his non-involvement within his own family it makes him distant and alienated. Only receiving a telegram and not know the exact time or day it was given to him hows that he was not close to many people. The telegram was also very plain and dull, not really explaining what happened or when it exactly happened. This al shows how he can be a true existentialist and his alienation from his own mother.
 * Bryce Lothe

Meursault seemed to lack a connection with his mother. This can be suspected at the beginning of the book, when he arrives to her funeral only to show little to no emotion at all. Judging by this, it can be said that he night not have even had an emotional connection to his own mother at all. The same could also be said for his girlfriend, Marie. It is a little bit more apparent when concerning his girlfriend because Meursault clearly said, “A moment later she asked me if I loved her. I said that sort of question had no meaning, really; but I supposed I didn’t” (Camus 44). He admits openly that he honestly felt no love for his own girlfriend. This is proof enough of his lack of emotional connection to Marie, not establishing one with her yet. He shows no care for at some points, willing to marry her simply because she asked and not because he loves her enough to do so. He had even admitted to her that he would have married any other girl if they simply asked him to do so. Meursault does not have that sort of connection with Marie, and therefore cannot connect with her emotionally. - Anna Luisa Griffith

5. Meursault’s connection with both his mother and Maria are peculiar. For both, it seems Meursault lacks a part of an emotional relationship for the girls. He mostly occupies his time with Maria and for his mother he didn’t have a connection at all. Camus even states, “When she was at home with me, Maman used to spend her time following me with her eyes, not saying a thing” (5). They did not talk or even have a relationship, and by not having a relationship he could not have emotions for her. Maria has the relationship part, but lacks the emotion from Meursault. He knows that getting close to Maria will make him hurt later, since he has seen his mother die already. The connection he has with both in the since of relationships is that he stays at a distance to avoid the pain later. This is all because he is a true existentialist and they stay at a distance from relationships to avoid what Meursault is, which is a downfall. -Tommy Pilgrim

5. When concerning Mersault’s connection with his mother and Marie, it seems as if it’s not that he just signals out these two individuals to show an uncaring side to, but that that is his true nature in the beginning of the book. Right from the start Mersault gave an insight to his behaviors by stating, “ It didn’t matter to me, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to say” (Camus 37). When concerning this quote it shows that Mersault’s attitude is one void of any life or emotion. That he agrees to take part in certain events and activities because his involvement in them is not one of true matter or importance. Such as when concerning his mother and Marie and his attitude towards the two. His mannerisms were uncaring from the start, and it isn’t until the near end of Part One of the novel that a true sense of concern is displayed through Mersault. When he begins to show a side foreign to the reader, one beginning to show signs of human emotion. So, it may not be that his relationships with both women are bad, but just that that’s simply the way Mersault expresses himself. – Alexandra Pietrangeli

5.In the stranger he seems to not have very close emotional ties with anyone. With his mom he took her death as in not much had changed and with his girlfriend he just took her as if it didn’t matter whether she was there or not. In the book on the 41st page he stated, “Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her” (Camus). This shows that he has no care in the matter of what happens either way. When he said that it wouldn’t make any difference to him he was saying that he was ok with it either way because he really didn’t care. When she asked if he loved her and he responded with “it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her” then he was saying that his love wasn’t something that he cared about. When he told her that he probably didn’t love her he was then saying that he wasn’t sure of his emotions and that he was not to worried about it either. Essentially he is a very care free person and doesn’t necessarily have any emotional attachment to people in his life.

-Matt Collaco

5. Meursault does not seem to have a very good connection to his mom. It is very evident in the way he acted at her funeral. According to The Stranger, the caretaker asks “’…before I do, would you like to see your mother one last time?’ I said no” (Camus 13). That last bit was Meursault answering no to seeing his mother one last time. That is the most evidence anyone could have to see that Meursault had a bad connection with his mom. It seems that most people if they do not have a good connection with their mother they do not have a good connection with women. This could be because a mother figure gives an idea to a man what to find in a woman. In most cases a mother is gentle and loving, so a man would try to find that in a woman. In the case Meursault however, his mom had a bad connection with him therefore he does not know how to show emotion to another woman, in this case Marie. Meursault is evidently very uncaring with Marie. - Jordan Dansdill

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5. Meursault seemed to have a good connection with his mom when he was younger as an assumption but once she started to get older he seemed like he didn’t want to see her getting older. So maybe that is why he put her into the home because he did not want to have to go with seeing his mom getting older and older by the day and see her getting ready for death. For instance when Salamano came to his door to talk to him about loosing his dog and Meursault loosing his mother Salamano said "some people might think badly of you for putting your Maman to the home but he knew me and he knew I loved her very much" (Camus 45). This quote right here could show that he loved her but he had to send her off for her own good because she would be with her friends all the time. Also he probably didn’t look at him mom when she died because and she was in the coffin because maybe he didn’t want to see her that way. Maybe he wanted to think she was still there and not dead, cold, sitting in a coffin. So it wasn’t that he didn’t care about her, it was that he did and he just couldn’t take his mothers death to well, as many people don’t. So as I said earlier he just didn’t want to see his mom getting older and he didn’t want to be with her while she was getting closer to her death. Also instead of not caring of his mom’s death as people are saying its more that he didn’t care that people thought he was mean for sending her to a home.======

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5. Meursault is a unique character that never shows emotion. This quote shows he always seems to let down the ladies. Two big ones were his Mom and Marie. According to Camus, “Then she wanted to know if I loved her” (41). This quote was quiet interesting because it’s not the quote that has to do with his emotions. It’s the general feeling he was trying to get across with this. Marie seemed very confused on if he loved her or not so he asked her. Which means something important. Meursault doesn’t show his emotion so she has to force it out of him. He had the same situation with this mom.. He loved her, but didn’t want to see her at her funeral. He wanted to stay away to hide his emotion from the world. ====== - Megan McKenzie

5. Meursault's unemotional connection with his mother's death and the connection with Marie doesn't affect with at all. According to Meursualt, "I didn't go there much this past year. And also because it took up my Sunday - not to mention the trouble of getting on the bus" (Camus 5). Meursualt was bothered by going there, always having to spend the time and money to visit his mother. He just realized that it would be better for her if he doesn't see him that much. Right at the beginning of the book Meursualt doesn't care about relationships. To him its just another day. He is happy with his life just the way it is he doesn't need a women for life, just one that will please with for that moment. Marie loves him but Meursualt doesn't care for love its not on the top of his list. -Stephanie Toscano

5. It is possible that the undeveloped relationship Meursault has with Marie is stemmed from his lack of relationship with his mother. Meursault seems to have no emotional connection with Marie. All she is good to him for his sex. Although his sexual relation with Marie most likely did not stem from his mother, the fact that he is incapable to forming an emotion relationship is most likely from his mother. There was at one point, a time when his mother lived with him, but it got to the point where it was better for her to be in a home. At that point, Meursault broke his connection with his mother. After she went to a home, he hardly ever visited her. Almost as if her being gone was a relief. As Camus adds, "I didn't go there much this past year. And also because it took up my Sunday - not to mention the trouble of getting on the bus" (5). Visiting his mother had become an inconvenience and that shows in itself how little his own mother meant to him. Studies show that a man's ability to form female relationships is built out of the relationship with their mother (Shingler). If someone develops a poor connection/relation with their mother, it is likely that they will not have a good relationship with a female. This is most likely the cause of Meursault's relation with Marie; not caring, not emotionally attached, and not reliant on her. -Taylor Grenier

5. The relationship between Meursalt and Marie is very similar to how his relationship was with his mom. He loved his mom very much but when she died it seemed as if it didn’t really affect him at all. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (Camus 3). This quote shows that he realizes his mom died but he doesn’t show any emotion at all. This is the same way with Marie as, “that evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to” (Camus 41). This quote shows that he doesn’t really care about Marie or show feelings towards her. The two quotes connects his relationship with both of them well because in both there is no emotion and he shows that he doesn’t care at all. -Bobby Williams

5. There is a connection between Mersaults unemotional response to his mother’s death and his unemotional relationship with Maria. Both relationships he doesn’t show much attention or interest. He shows this by the things he thinks and says, "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure" (Camus 1). He doesn’t give much thought to the important details of his mother’s death. “That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to” (Camus 41). When Maria asked him to marry her he also doesn’t give it much thought. He just doesn’t care about important things and that’s how both of his relationships were. - Ariah Luevano

5. The unemotional response and connection between Meursault, his mother’s death and Maria shows how Meursault is showing his familiarity and admiration with his tedious and slow going life style. On the very first page of the book Meursault demonstrates how his mothers death did not affect him in any way by stating, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know… That doesn’t mean anything. I guess it was yesterday” (Camus). Meursault showed how he did not care because he just used a monotone voice while explaining this. It also shows how Meursault did not care because he did not pay attention to the exact day that Maman died. Meursault being apathetic towards his moms death bleeds into his feelings for his girl friend Maria. Camus demonstrates that Meursault does not feel any thing for Maria by replying to the question do you love me, with the answer, “That doesn’t mean anything to me, and that I didn’t think so” (35). When Meursault said that he did not love her he clearly stated that he is just using her as a booty call. With Meursault’s ability not to care, Meursault achieved the first step of being a true Existentialist. -Scott Bentley

5. Meursault had a very estranged relationship with his mother that would later affect his relationships with other women. This would affect his decision making ability as he became uncaring to women’s thoughts or wants. “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, nothing had changed” (Camus 24). That passage was written after Meursault’s mother had passed away and buried. This has an surprising affect on him, this might mean that he cared very little for her, but that was later proved to be false. An affect that might have happened is that he is afraid of feeling sorry and tried to distance him self from her and later Maria and the farther she goes the less affect it would have on him. This would potenial him from any potential negative feelings that would company. He might just trying to avoid emotions at all cost no matter who it affects. - Connor Murphy

5. Meursault’s relationship with his mother does not seem to be a very good one. It seems that he did not care about what happened to her. The quote, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know" (Camus 1), tells me he didn’t care. His relationship with Maria seems to be the same way. Like when she wanted to get married he was like sure. He didn’t seem to be much into her and didn’t care if they were together or not. He doesn’t care about them and that’s how they relate. They both are women in his life and he doesn’t care about either of them. -Zach Romano

5. In Meursault’s life woman haven’t been something that has fazed him and he has become detached from any feeling towards them. His mother was there with him throughout his life but was detached from him and they didn’t talk much. For example as he describes why he sent his mother to the home he says, “it had been a long time since shed had anything to say to me” (Camus 44). This shows how much they weren’t close and how he didn’t really have a connection with her even though they lived in the same house. This is all said after she died to and as they disuse her there is not glimpse of emotion in any regard to her now being gone for good. In regards to Maria there are many examples of how he is detached from women and how he is detached from her. Many time she asks him if he wants to get married and his response is yes but when she ask him if he would have said yes to anyone his response is, “sure” (Camus 41). With this simple unemotional response it is clear how is has no real attachment to Maria and how he doesn’t really think of marriage as anything. Both of these examples demonstrate how Meursault has no real connection to women in his life. -Amanda Countryman