The Stranger Journal #4: Meursault's changes

A lawyer comes to the prison to begin asking Meursault questions about his case. When Meursault says, "What I can say for certain is that I would rather Maman hadn't died" (Camus 65), it shows a change in Meursault's personality. In part one, Meursault was not as in touch with his feelings and did not express them the way he does in part two. He acknowledges that he does have feelings regarding his mother's death in part two, where in part he kept to himself and made the reader wonder whether or not he really cared.

The lawyer continues to ask Meursault questions to help develop his case and Meursault mentions that he "started to breathe more freely" (Camus 70). This takes his personality from routine and contained to more relaxed. This shows the reader that Meursault changes the way he feels about the situations in his life and is going about them in a less detached way.

Meursault is not allowed to have his tie, shoelaces, belt or cigarettes while in prison and it was initially quite difficult for him to become acclimated to. However, when he says, "Later on I realized that that too was part of the punishment. But by then I had gotten used to not smoking and it wasn't a punishment anymore" (Camus 78), it shows his completely altered mind-set. In part one, he is stuck on his routine including always smoking his cigarettes. Because he is now in the prison, he is forced to come out of his comfort zone and break his routine. This shows the reader that Meursault is able to become something he was not originally in part one.