"Maman died today or yesturday
or maybe, I don't know. I got a way.
telegram from home: "Mother
deceased. Funeral tomorrow.
Faithfully yours" That doesn't
mean anything. Maybe it was
yesturday" (pg. 3)
Camus begins this novel in an interestig way. The first paragraph in this novel explains Meursault's knowledge of his mother's death. Meursault was not aware of the specifics of his mother's death. All he knew was the fact that she died. I find it a bit shocking as to how he was reacting. In a blunt manner he declares the death of his mother. This sets up the character of Meursault for the reader. At the begining the reader senses Meursault's character as being straight forward and honest. He also shows indifference making him seem to have no feelings in a sense, because he didn't seem hurt by his mother's death. In my opinion the first few pages of a novel tells a alot about the author and how he/she wants the novel to be perceived. Camus' choice to begin the novel in that manner caused me to quickly infer that Meursault (the narrator) was a very emotionless character from the way he reacted to his mother's death. Also the words Camus choices, and sentence structure played a huge role. Meursault's short sentences made his character seem dull and "feeling-less". So Camus' choices in the beginning of the novel caused me to quickly see how he wanted the main character to be understood.
