My basic ideas for this topic are that he chooses to write the novel in first person because one of the major ideas throughout the book is the exploration of human nature and the randomness or meaninglessness of life in general. A possible theme for the novel that is explored through the use of first person narration could be: As humans, we are each individuals who have complete control over our decisions and actions, however our independence is irrelevant, or even detrimental, because of the lack of a defined meaning of life or purpose.
Basically, throughout Mersault's narration, we get the sense that he's an individual. He's very different, he does random things, it's obvious that he's in charge of his actions. Even when he knows what the socially or politically correct thing to do is, he sometimes ignores that. He has free will. But he's also consistently speaking about how things "don't mean anything" so he doesn't really understand what he should or shouldn't do because the social "rules" or etiquette in society don't necessary make sense and who's to say that those are correct?
It definitely relates to the idea of "The Absurd" or this idea that life really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And, even though we have free will, what's the point of free will if we don't know what to do with it? I think the first person point of view aligns with Mersault because he doesn't have much need for other characters. He enjoys people, but is often annoyed with them and is never really very close to anyone. He often holds back his thoughts. It could contribute to a theme that each person is mostly concerned about themselves and their own well being. Having a third person narrator would take away much of the point of the novel. The whole idea is Mersault's individualism and his thoughts and him being a "stranger" to the world, or killing someone who was a "stranger". He speaks about things that are literal and here and now, and so first person makes more sense because its more literal than an omniscient narrator\, because it would be like a God which Mersault doesn't believe in anyways. And his actions make little to no sense in many areas so it would be confusing to have it narrated, even if it was limited third person.
Some Quotes that could possibly relate to these ideas: (Color Coated to correlate to the above paragraphs)
"I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another..."
This could relate to there not being much of a purpose in life and that everyone is mostly alone in life. "It didn't matter to me, but I knew what I was supposed to say."
This is an important aspect in the novel, that Mersault knows typical social customs, but still sometimes doesn't follow them."To stay or to go, it amounted to the same thing" (57)
I think this shows how Mersault, no matter what he does, he feels like it all amounts to the same thing. This is a subtle connection to this recurring idea throughout the novel that all people die eventually. No matter what you do with your life, eventually you die. So I get a sense from him that it's like, it doesn't matter much what you do because there's not this defined purpose of life, you die either way.
"It was then that I realized you could either shoot or not shoot." (56)
Again, I feel like this is saying we-all-die-in-the-end-so-what's-the-point type of thing. And I think this relates to the first person narration because he uses it to show Mersault's reasoning and make this book really about human nature and particularly an individual person's actions when faced with the idea that life is meaningless.
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