The character of Meursault in Albert Camus's The Stranger is one of a complex nature who inadvertently becomes involved in the murder of an Arab and as a result is "thrown to the wolves" by his own peers for the reason that he will not conform to the idea of a politically correct citizen of their society.

The novel opens with Meursault's mother passing away at an old people's home. When he tells his employer about his mother's death, he is concerned about the reaction he gets. He feels that the employer should feel sympathy for him but instead he feels angry. Later in the novel, after Meursault has been arrested and went to trial, the prosecution portrays him as a cold, heartless killer with no emotional indifference due to the fact that he smokes and drinks in front of his mother's body and seems to show no...