Book 1 Chapter 1

TELEGRAM BRINGS OUT LITTLE REMORSE IN MOTHERS DEATH

" ...Then there was the church and the villagers on the sidewalks, the red geraniums on the graves in the cemetery, Perez fainting (he crumpled like a rag doll), the blood-red earth spilling over Maman's casket, the white flesh of the roots mixed in with it, waiting in front of a cafe, the incessant drone of the motor, and my joy when the bus entered the nest of lights that was Algiers and I knew I was going to go to bed and sleep for twelve hours." (pg. 18)

How would an atheist deal with a death? This was the question which came to my mind after reading the novel and after going back and re reading the first chapter. One thing, I realized I clung to was that Atheism is portrayed as a sort of culture. Atheism is not a culture; it is nothing other than the disbelief in God. The first chapter is very stereotypical of how the world perceives the secular; detached, void of emotions, bottled up feelings. When analyzing this chapter I decided to read it once and look at Meursault as an Atheist and read it another time regarding him as an individual. My conclusions were varied after I read the same chapter from two different perspectives. While reading it the first time, I was focused on the motions rather than the emotions and as I read the second time I began focusing on Meursault as a distinguished person. I was able to see and feel what he was going through. I chose the quote I did because, it made me realize that this is really what the death of a relative (or parent) is like. It is surreal, it becomes a haze. The events overlap each other and you do not know where to direct your focus although you know where you are suppose to direct it. There is no grief and although bizarre, is nothing Meursault was ashamed of. At one point he ignores his deceased mothers presence and lights a cigarette in front of her. Is one way of grieving not grieving? Perhaps a distant thought, but events in times of despair stagger together whether you show remorse or not.