Bella Ciao: Meursault as the Collaborator

         Albert Camus’ The Stranger is, along with its other philosophical explorations, an exploration of the concept of neutrality, and what neutrality means. Meursault is portrayed as a character who does his utmost to preserve his “neutrality” in the face of all the actions and words of the other characters in the story, especially Salamano and Raymond. Camus’, in what is not much of a surprise, given his active participation in the French Resistance, seems to side with the view that neutrality in the face of evil is itself evil. This view is most evident through the first half of the book, while Meursault is a free man. 

In the second half, the message on neutrality changes slightly. Not only will it make one complicit and ultimately directly responsible for evil, it will also fail to save oneself. Meursault is sentenced to death by guillotine, the standard method of execution in France until the abolition of the death penalty in 1981 (the other possible method of execution was by firing squad, but this existed only for military crimes and high crimes against the state). 

In the first section, we see Mersault slowly but inevitably go from proclaiming that it is not his place to pass judgement on Salamano’s treatment of his dog to shooting a man he has never spoken to, in a manner he deems to be against his own will. Meursault begins by repeatedly insisting that he is in no place to pass judgement. Where Celeste says of Salamano and his dog “it’s pitiful”, Meursault essentially shrugs and says that he can’t know if it is pitiful or not. Meursault refuses to take even the slightest stance on the issue of a dog that is being regularly beaten by its owner, a pattern that will repeat itself, with more and more serious consequences. His next step on the road to collaboration comes when he agrees, out of an attempt to avoid conflict, to help Raymond brutalize his ex. Raymond asks him for help, and, instead of refusing, or informing the police, he agrees to assist Raymond. Meursault’s neutrality is being exposed by Camus here for the sham that it is. It is not any real form of neutrality, but instead a desperate attempt to avoid conflict, in the hope that those like Raymond will not hate him. He then proceeds to commit perjury, digging himself in deeper, when Raymond is taken in for questioning. Raymond is ultimately let off with a warning, thanks to the entirely voluntary collaboration of Meursault. 

The culmination of this thread, lies, of course, on the beach, when Meursault shoots a man in cold blood, aligning himself fully with Raymond and his plans. In fact, he goes farther than Raymond, who is dedicated to the cause. Raymond is dissuaded from shooting the Arab, but Meursault cannot be. With this, there is no more shield of neutrality for Meursault to hide behind. He is no longer simply going along with the things that Raymond does, he is acting entirely on his own. 

In the second part of the book, we see Mersault condemned to death. Meursault, despite his complete loss of neutrality, and his alignment with Raymond, is still punished by a system which cares very little for “the Arab” or his sister. Meursault is not really even found guilty for the murder of the Arab, but instead for the threat to society it is claimed that he represents. He has literally outlived his usefulness, and so he becomes the next person to be thrown under the bus, just as he threw Raymond’s ex under the bus. In the end, his collaboration with Raymond gives him nothing. It simply delays the inevitable.