An Odd Relationship

     While we are already aware that Meursault is not the most normal guy, his relationship with Marie strays even further from what the average reader would expect. 

    I believe it's fair to say that Meursault treats Marie fairly well, he takes her out and invites her to Raymond's friend's beach house. While Camus writes many times that Meursault will "want her", implying that perhaps the relationship is built upon lust, I believe that overall, Meursault means well. However, it's found to be quite alarming in the way that he speaks to her. 

    Love is defined as "an intense feeling of deep attraction." The saying of the words "I love you" in a relationship is usually a fairly large moment for the two involved, and I'm sure that anyone in a relationship would be able to recall the first time those three words were said. It's okay not to love someone right away, or to hold this intense feeling of deep attraction off the bat. However, when Marie asks if Meursault loves her, he responds that "it doesn't mean anything." This reveals a lot about Meursault's character and discloses how odd the relationship that he has with Marie really is. The fact that this holds no meaning to Meursault is a clear depiction of his disassociation from Marie.

    The reader would normally view this situation and ask themselves why Marie would stay with Meursault, as anyone in her position would become quite offended at this point. It's obvious that Marie and him don't hold the same viewpoint upon how important those three words are. However, since The Stranger is written in the first-person point of view from the perspective of Meursault, it's impossible to judge the relationship they have. The reader has no clue what Marie is thinking in regards to her relationship, or what she is looking for aside from a few context clues. Although I think it is fair to assume that Marie truly does have this feeling of deep attraction toward Meursault, or else she wouldn't stay with him. I believe it's also fair to make an assumption that their relationship, is definitely not normal.