"Such is the strangeness of the human heart."

Well I am a bit late on this one, due to hotel wifi and lack of computer complications, but I've decided to make a mountain out of something miniscule that made me ponder while reading "The Stranger." I'm not quite sure what topic or theme to generally present this as, so I suppose you'll just have to read the entire blog to get the feel, and then create your own conjecture as to what the main issue presented can be categorized as. Meursault can clearly be classified as weird. Unnatural. Appalling. Even a debauchary to our race. In saying these things, I do not mean to say that he was not an entirely enticing and compelling character, simply that he was not (nor anywhere near) the typical range of normalcy that is generally expected. As some do claim the title of sociopath, yes, he does flawlessly fit the label, yet does not strike me as his classification. He is indifferent. Yet pensive. Genius, yet at times so incredibly inept. He is meandering through life on a whim, his own that is, and is uncannily fulfilled by selfish physical impulse and raw instinct. He is virtually ignorant to any other thought process occurring around him, and is blissfully content at this. As Sam said in the socratic seminar, some parallels can be drawn between him and Roark. So, I beg to question, why is he like this? What otherworldly conditioning did he experience in his childhood that caused this "aberration" to exist? Assuming that he is not a sociopath. Yes, of course I do realize that he is a fictional character, but he inevitably presents an underlying truth concerning human nature. He is not the only character in literature with the jaded, indifferent persona, causing one to believe that the authors obtained this indepth personality from some interaction in their real life, whether it be themselves or someone they have met. What social atmosphere must one be raised in to achieve the results presented in Meursault? I'm sure there have been plenty of child abuse cases, rapes, neglect, and abandonment that have caused selfishness, indifference, and "heartlessness," yet I feel as though Meursault's was uncomparable. His was entirely genuine. Not out of spite or anger or vengeance or any other emotion purely other than what he felt at that moment in time. He did not question how he felt, or whether it was wrong or right, or even why it was wrong or right. Because he did not care. Not in the sense as most of the population know it, being not caring to prove a point to others or themselves, but he simply did not care because he didn't feel concern. There was no impulse to care flowing through his veins. I could go on for pages about how perplexed this train of thought led me to be, but it basically runs in circles, so I'll spare you the agony. I suppose that what I am asking is how, can a single human being, just as inable and dependent as every other, be placed within the exact same mold as the one next to him at birth, and end up so indescribably unknown and foreign?

This is going to be a long blog, and I apologize, but this point tied in with my thought process from above. And I needed a connection to modern day. So the different guy. Misunderstood, (or so assumed,) careless, and selfish. Aka dark, mysterious, and desirable. Why is this so attractive? Also, as Sam mentioned, the character of Meursault deeply intrigued me (as shown above) and basically made the book for me. Not that it wasn't well-written, simply that I found the most appeal in the character complex of Meursault himself. I would probably have a crush on him if he were real. So why does this complex attract me? Or any other female for this matter? Marie being the prime example: she was a normal woman, attractive, nice, and typical. What drew her to Meursault and what possessed her to stay and be so undeservingly good to him? Even today, girls, I myself included, are attracted to this unknown behavior. I believe it is partially due to the challenge of attaining or figuring out some small detail that renders success, or even breaking this person completely as defeat. These indifferent people are the most intriguing, I find, and it is almost irresistable to be attracted to the mysterious air they send off. Although Marie never got her personal victory in breaking  Meursault, I do believe that she accomplished this in retrospect. Because although Meursault only utilized her prescence for his physical wants and needs, he did not realize the comfort she had on his mind until he was without her in a prison cell facing imminent death. Of course, it was most likely not love, it was still more of a human attachment then he had ever experienced in his life. As is the typical teenage situation; where dark mysterious boy attracts girl, they remain together but distant, then he breaks his indifference only too late.