Meursault and his Mother vs. Salamano and his Dog
The relationship between Meursault and his mother is one of much debate in the novel The Stranger. Even though we never see the relationship in real time, as the book begins with the mother's death, we do learn more about their relationship from Meursault's behavior both at and after her funeral. At his mother's funeral, Meursault was very distracted. It was hot and he was tired, therefore he seemed to not feel any sadness about his mother's death.
The relationship between Salamano and his dog is also one that sparks a lot of conversation while reading The Stranger. Salamano and his dog are both pretty old and both have a skin disease. Even though they have these similarities, Salamano abuses his dog and they are known to hate each other. This escalates until Salamano's dog runs away from his owner while they are out on a walk.
Both relationships are unusual in the way that they both aren't exactly seen as morally and socially correct. Salamano and his dog have an abusive relationship that sparks the question if Salamano should actually be allowed to have ownership of the dog. Meursault and his mother have a pretty distant relationship, as Meursault sent his mother to a home and then didn't visit her much because it was inconvenient. While at his mother's funeral, Meursault then didn't express much grief in the way that society expected him to.
Even though both relationships seem to be unusual ones, they also have some fundamental differences. The relationships almost seem to be opposites of each other. Meursault and his mother seemed to have a pretty normal relationship before the mother's death. They seemed to love each other to some extent, as Meursault still seemed to care about making sure his mother was taken care for even if he couldn't. Salamano and his dog seem to be the opposite. While they were together, their relationship was not loving at all, as Salamano constantly abused his dog and they hated each other. When the dog ran away and was presumed dead, Salamano expressed remorse and missed his dog, even crying alone in his apartment at night.
Therefore, even though both relationships have similarities in the way that they don't align with the societal idea of a healthy relationship, they actually aren't too similar in the extent of the healthiness of their relationships. It is clear that Salamano and his dog have a very abusive relationship, and even though Salamano shows remorse when his dog runs away, this doesn't excuse his previous actions. Even though Meursault and his mother have an unusual relationship, calling it abusive would be stretching it too far. Regardless of his lack of sadness at his mother's funeral, Meursault (and his relationship with his mother) shouldn't be defined by that one instance, as people grieve in different ways. Thus, even though both Meursault's relationship with his mother and Salamano's relationship with his dog are similar because they are both "different", Meursault and his mother just have an unconventional relationship, where Salamano truly abuses his dog, which is an actual problem.
The relationship between Salamano and his dog is also one that sparks a lot of conversation while reading The Stranger. Salamano and his dog are both pretty old and both have a skin disease. Even though they have these similarities, Salamano abuses his dog and they are known to hate each other. This escalates until Salamano's dog runs away from his owner while they are out on a walk.
Both relationships are unusual in the way that they both aren't exactly seen as morally and socially correct. Salamano and his dog have an abusive relationship that sparks the question if Salamano should actually be allowed to have ownership of the dog. Meursault and his mother have a pretty distant relationship, as Meursault sent his mother to a home and then didn't visit her much because it was inconvenient. While at his mother's funeral, Meursault then didn't express much grief in the way that society expected him to.
Even though both relationships seem to be unusual ones, they also have some fundamental differences. The relationships almost seem to be opposites of each other. Meursault and his mother seemed to have a pretty normal relationship before the mother's death. They seemed to love each other to some extent, as Meursault still seemed to care about making sure his mother was taken care for even if he couldn't. Salamano and his dog seem to be the opposite. While they were together, their relationship was not loving at all, as Salamano constantly abused his dog and they hated each other. When the dog ran away and was presumed dead, Salamano expressed remorse and missed his dog, even crying alone in his apartment at night.
Therefore, even though both relationships have similarities in the way that they don't align with the societal idea of a healthy relationship, they actually aren't too similar in the extent of the healthiness of their relationships. It is clear that Salamano and his dog have a very abusive relationship, and even though Salamano shows remorse when his dog runs away, this doesn't excuse his previous actions. Even though Meursault and his mother have an unusual relationship, calling it abusive would be stretching it too far. Regardless of his lack of sadness at his mother's funeral, Meursault (and his relationship with his mother) shouldn't be defined by that one instance, as people grieve in different ways. Thus, even though both Meursault's relationship with his mother and Salamano's relationship with his dog are similar because they are both "different", Meursault and his mother just have an unconventional relationship, where Salamano truly abuses his dog, which is an actual problem.
This is a very interesting point about the severity of the two issues with the relationships, while Meursault is generally apathetic about his mother, Salamano abuses his dog which should be seen as much worse. This reminded me of the trial because society and the justice system of the novel seem to portray it in the opposite light, with Meursault seemingly getting executed for not caring enough about his mother, while Salamano is unpunished for his treatment of his dog (aside from the judgement he received from his neighbors).
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting comparison! It seems that Meursault loves his mother and Salamano loves his dog but they don't really know how to show their love until the dog/his mother are gone. For example, Salamano beats his dog all the time and is always yelling at the dog but when the dog runs away and Salamono realizes that the dog will probably never come back he gets really sad. Similarly, Meursault sends his mother away to a home and he rarely goes to visit her. However, although he made not seem sad at first he definitely seems to miss Maman at the end of the book when he is in jail. Both of these characters seem unable to express their love until it is pretty much too late.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you compared both of these unusual relationships! I thought about how the court would react to this since their entire judgement of Meursault is on his unresponsive reaction toward his mother’s death. As sad as it sounds, I think that the court wouldn’t punish Salamano for abusing his dog. They would justify it and say how Salamano mourned for his dog. Just like how Raymond abused “his mistress”, the court justified it because the idea of abuse is driven off of intense and extreme emotion. But in Meursault’s case, Meursault displayed an intense and extreme lack of emotion which ultimately got him condemned.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded here of Meursault's insistence, near the end of the novel, that "no one has a right to cry for" his mother. We're very confident in our ability to judge another's relationship, and to draw all kinds of conclusions about how Meursault and his mother feel about each other, through these external details, just as everyone feels confident judging Salamano and his dog. But Meursault's "who's to say?" position seems to reflect the novel's own view of these judgments of his behavior at the funeral: indeed, *is* there any real or necessary connection between his "performance" of grief at this ceremonial occasion and his actual feelings for his mother? Why are we so eager to see his performance? Why is it so reassuring to *us* to believe that he's properly sad about his mother's death?
ReplyDeletePLEASE REPLY, I loved this interpretation it would be so helpful if I could have some clarification of your qualifications. xoxoxoxoxox
ReplyDeleteI don't find it right saying that their relationships weren't proper. Like it's just that Mersault had accepted the reality that his mourning wasn't going to bring her mother back . And judging him other than the murder is a pathetic act . Like he should have been punished on the point of killing someone not because he didn't cry over his mother's funeral.
ReplyDelete