Il m’a d’abord dit qu’on me dépeignait comme ayant un caractère taciturne et renfermé, et il a voulu savoir ce que j’en pensais. J’ai répondu : C’est que je n’ai jamais grand-chose à dire. Alors je me tais. ”
Towards the end of L’Étranger, Meursault is told that he is considered taciturn and withdrawn. This taciturnity appears to be a central theme of the book, not only in the character of Meursault but also in the writing style of Camus. Throughout the book, there are examples of silence and inarticulateness, whether they are a deliberate, conscious part of the style or just part of Meursault’s character.
Firstly, Camus has written L’Étranger using vague and ambiguous language. The sentence structure is simple and unrevealing, with everything being a case of “I did this, then I did that, then this happened,” an almost childlike report or diary. “Meursault takes the stance of simply reporting these impressions without attempting to create a coherent story from them.” (David Anderson) This style encourages readers to look deeper into what is being reported and explore the different possibilities of meaning. The reader then has the opportunity to become Meursault’s consciousness, giving the book a greater variability as each reader will have a different consciousness and a different interpretation of the book.
During Part One of L’Étranger, there are several occasions that highlight Meursault’s refusal to lie or waste time reflecting on the real meaning of things. He will often reply to questions with “I don’t mind” or something equally non-committal or opinion-free. “Il m’a demandé encore si je voulais être son copain. J’ai dit que ça m’était égal.” When Raymond asks Meursault to be his friend, Meursault simply says that he doesn’t mind. This could be seen as rude, but it is simply Meursault’s personality. It doesn’t matter to him whether he becomes friends with Raymond or not, and he is not going to lie about it. After Raymond has a run-in with the police, he asks Meursault what he expected him to do. Meursault had not wasted time thinking about this and had no particular opinion and does not pretend otherwise. “J’ai répondu que je n’attendrais rien du tout.”
Despite his inarticulateness, Meursault is highly likeable, and most people find it easy to get along with him. Rather than dislike his silence, he is actually respected for it. When Céleste is asked in court about Meursault, he comments on his taciturnity and says that he is “renfermé” and that he “ne parle pas pour ne rien dire.” For Meursault, silence is essential. It creates some kind of emotional intensity for him, as seen several times in L’Étranger. Firstly, when he is keeping vigil for his mother, he and his friends sit together in silence. Then, when he meets Marie at the baths, “Je sentais le ventre de Marie battre doucement. Nous sommes restés longtemps sur la bouée, à moitié endormis.” It is probably fair to say that if she had tried to talk to him, the situation would have been far less enjoyable for him. When Meursault and Raymond become friends, Raymond sits in silence watching him.
This is also quite an intense moment for Raymond and is the start of the situation that leads him to murder. The reverse of this, when he is placed into a noisy, intimidating situation, like when Marie goes to visit him in prison and he is moved from the silence of his cell to the intense noise of the visiting room, he feels incredibly uncomfortable and almost scared. ‘Quand je suis entré, le bruit des voix qui rebondissaient contre les grands murs nus de la salle, la lumière crue qui coulait du ciel sur les vitres et rejaillissait dans la salle me causèrent une sorte d’étourdissement. Ma cellule était plus calme et plus sombre.’ Meursault himself comments while in prison about his contentment at being alone and his uncommunicativeness when he realizes that he would be quite happy living in the trunk of a tree without anything to do but look up at the sky.
For me, if Meursault were any more outspoken or forthright, the book would have taken on a completely different meaning. As it is, you have to judge Meursault and his behavior, but since he does not like to give his opinion often or try to defend himself, this is difficult. One could think of him as strange, a reject, and an outsider and judge him as that, or you accept him as a truly honest man who loves simple pleasures and works quite hard. Personally, at times, I find his inability or lack of desire to express a strong opinion quite frustrating, but all the same, I find myself empathizing with him. What is the point in expressing an opinion when it makes no real difference whether you do or you don’t? I don’t think his silence is caused by a conscious decision not to speak, more a refusal to lie, even to make his life easier.
As Camus himself says in 1955, ‘he refuses to lie. Lying is not only saying what isn’t true. It is also, in fact especially, saying more than is true and, in the case of the human heart, saying more than one feels. We all do it, every day, to make life simpler.’ Meursault cannot be accused of ever saying more than he feels; when Marie asks if he loves her, being totally honest and chancing losing her, he says ‘cela ne voulait rien dire, mais qu’il me semblait que non.’ Nor can he be accused of trying to make life easier for himself, even in the courtroom he voluntarily admits to things that could damage his case.
When asked if he had anything to say in his defense after the testimony of the caretaker, Meursault simply says, ‘Rien’, ai-je répondu, seulement que le témoin a raison. Il est vrai que je lui ai offert une cigarette.’ It is clear that taciturnity is a highly important feature of Camus’s L’Etranger since it plays such a central role in influencing the reader’s ideas and opinions of Meursault and the events of the book. Without such silence, the book would be a simple story of murder and its consequences, rather than a fascinating insight into a truly honest man. Word count: 69.
