Marie and Meursault: Meant to Be or Want to Be Essay

â€Å"It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Mamam was buried now, that I was going back to work and that really, nothing had changed. †(1. 1. 15) These are some of the words that ran through Meursault’s mind after his mother’s death. He was very isolated from her so he felt as if nothing had changed. He was not the most outgoing person but the same cannot be said about his love interest, Marie. Throughout the novel, The Stranger, Meursault and Marie reveal just how many similarities and differences they share in the topics of emotion, actions and mannerism. To begin with, emotion was most certainly one of the main factors of the book. Emotion played such a big impact it potentially caused a death. Marie and Meursault very both similar and different in their ways of emotion. They were both very physically bonded to one another. They might not have always seen eye to eye, but when it came to contact, their emotions were hand in hand. Recently after Mamam lost her life, Meursault made a quick connection with Marie. â€Å"Together again, Marie and I swan out a ways, and we felt a closeness as we moved in unison and were happy. (1. 6. 7) Just from a line of Meursault’s thoughts, you could tell he had a serious emotional connection with Marie. For most of the novel, this couple seemed as they were formed together into one person, but on the other hand, their everyday feelings about common things were as different as black and white. Marie was a very energetic, romantic and passionate Mann 2 woman, while her other half rarely every showed any kind of emotion other than physically. Later on in, the Stranger, Marie asked Meursault if he loved her. By responding that it did not matter if he loved her, it put it right out in the open that he did not have a very wide emotion range. Meursault also never really showed any grief for the loss of his mother, especially while at her funeral. †Soon one of the women started crying.   I thought she’d never stop.   I wish I didn’t have to listen anymore. But I didn’t dare say anything. † (1. 1. 16) The way Meursault expresses himself surely reveals just how there are many more differences than similarities when it comes to Marie and his emotions. In addition to emotion, Marie and Meursault have very similar and different actions. As obviously pointed out I the novel, the both enjoy having feeling relations with each other. The both are very good at controlling their actions in the majority of the story. For example, even when Meursault is awaiting execution he does not panic or freak out with the exception of trying to be forced to pray. The two adults are not completely the same in their actions though, they are also very different. Meursault does not stay low key all of the time, sometimes he just has to let it out. While at the beach with Marie, and his friends, they come across the Arab that cause trouble for Raymond. Instead of just going with the flow, Meursault goes and takes charge of the situation. It may not have been his smartest action considering it took away someone’s life; it was a very different way to stand up for something. Meursault clearly had a great deal more of bravery than his girlfriend, Marie. Mann 3 Lastly, the similarities and differences between Marie and Meursault were also influenced by mannerism. Meursault and Marie made very clear throughout their time together that they had a different way of doing things than we do now. In their relationship, they did not take things as slowly as we do now-a-days. Considering they were very close together just on the first day of seeing one another in a great deal of time, you can tell they are not the type of people to kiss and hide. Individually, the two people had extremely different ways of doing things. Meursault was not the type of person to hide in the back while everyone else fought the war. Meursault was the make it happen kind of man. When he took the matters of the Arab into his own hands, it completely spiraled out of control, but still, he took a step forward, not back. Very differently from her mate, Marie was the gal that would wait for someone else to take the first step. Either or, Meursault and Marie had some similarities alongside their differences in mannerism. In conclusion, Marie and Meursault showed many similarities and differences in mannerism, action and emotion. This statement was easily expressed by Meursault’s mind thinking, â€Å"It occurs to me that anyway, one more Sunday, was over, Mamam was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that nothing had really changed. †