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Insight Horizon Media

What does Meursault do during the vigil for his mother

Author

John Castro

Published Mar 31, 2026

Meursault spends the night keeping vigil over his mother’s body. The caretaker offers him a cup of coffee, and, in turn, Meursault gives the caretaker a cigarette. Meursault finds the atmosphere in the mortuary pleasant and he dozes off.

How did Meursault pass the time at the vigil of his departed mother in the outsider?

That evening, he takes part in his mother’s vigil in the retirement home and the following day a funeral takes place. During each of the religious ceremonies, Meursault displays little to no remorse. Throughout the vigil: he smokes a cig, drinks some coffee the director gave him, and falls asleep a number of times.

What are some of the behaviors that Meursault displays at his mother's vigil?

Instead, he is listless, careless, indifferent, and apathetic. He falls asleep and struggles with his exhaustion. … This apathetic approach to death of someone who should be close makes reading audiences wonder about him at this point.

What does Meursault decline to do during the vigil?

In the mortuary, Meursault surprises the caretaker by declining his offer to open the casket (to show Meursault his mother). Meursault is embarrassed, feeling he shouldn’t have declined. The caretaker explains that dead bodies must be buried much more quickly than in Paris because of the heat.

How does Meursault act at his mother's funeral?

How does Meursault react to the news of his mother’s death and her funeral? Meursault is very indifferent to his mother’s death. He doesn’t really know when she died, and he does everything for the funeral because he knows he has to.

How does the sun affect Meursault at his mother's funeral?

The sun becomes a distraction from Meursault’s everyday life and he cannot handle it. The sun first presents a problem to Meursault at his mother’s funeral procession. Even before the procession embarks, Meursault remarks of the sun, calling it “inhuman and oppressive.”

Did Meursault go to his mother's funeral?

Meursault declines seeing his mother for one last time, but shares a smoke with the caretaker alongside his mother’s casket. Meursault stays for the vigil, but eventually falls asleep. He is mostly annoyed by the ordeal of a vigil. Morning comes, and the funeral procession commences.

What does Meursault do on the day after his mother dies?

Because his mother’s funeral was on a Friday, counting the weekend, Meursault essentially received four days off rather than two. Meursault goes swimming at a public beach, where he runs into Marie Cardona, a former co-worker of his.

Does Meursault care about his mother?

Meursault is psychologically detached from the world around him. Events that would be very significant for most people, such as a marriage proposal or a parent’s death, do not matter to him, at least not on a sentimental level. He simply does not care that his mother is dead, or that Marie loves him.

What does Meursault do at the end of part one?

This chapter represents the climax of the first part of the book. Since his return from his mother’s funeral, everything that Meursault has done in the narrative up to this point—meeting Marie, meeting Raymond, and becoming involved in the affair with Raymond’s mistress—has led him to the beach house.

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What does Meursault choose to focus on during his mother's vigil and funeral What are some specific examples?

In this chapter, Meursault focuses on the practical details surrounding his mother’s death. He worries about borrowing appropriate funeral clothing from a friend, and he is interested in the caretaker’s anecdote about how the length of a vigil depends on how long it takes before the body begins to decompose.

What does Meursault reveal about his past with his mother?

The judge asks Meursault why he put his mother in a home. Meursault replies that he did not have enough money to care for her. … One of the undertaker’s assistants reported that Meursault did not even know how old his mother was. Meursault realizes that the people in the courtroom hate him.

How does Meursault react to the news of his mother's death and her funeral?

Meursault immediately reveals himself to be indifferent toward emotion and interaction with others. Instead of grieving at the news of his mother’s death, he is cold, detached, and indifferent.

How does Meursault act during the funeral?

During the funeral procession, Meursault is not concerned with his mother’s existence in an afterlife. She is dead; he is alive, and he is sweaty and hot, and doing what he is expected to do for a funeral, but these are all physical acts. … At the funeral, he faints. Meursault, not Camus, tells us these facts.

When Meursault received a telegram informing him of his mother's death he reacted by?

Meursault does not show any real emotion when he receives a telegram informing him of his mother’s death; he only expresses a passing interest in the details. 3. The employer is somewhat irritated that Meursault will be away from the office.

How does Meursault view death?

After speaking with the chaplain, Meursault no longer views his impending execution with hope or despair. He accepts death as an inevitable fact and looks forward to it with peace. This realization of death’s inevitability constitutes Meursault’s triumph over society.

How does Maria react when Meursault tells her about his mother?

Meursault notes that Marie “shrank away a little” when he told her about his mother.

What sound reminds Meursault of his mother?

The sound of a steamer reminds him of his anonymity; not a single person on the boat knows or cares about Meursault’s fate, and it is at that moment that he understands the odd behavior of his mother as she approached death.

What effect does the sun have on Meursault?

More than anything the sun is depicted as a distraction to Meursault. It causes him to do things he would not normally do and clouds his judgment, causing him to commit a serious crime which will cause his own death.

What does heat symbolize in The Stranger?

Heat symbolizes the indifference of the universe towards human life. The sun’s blazing intensity without regard for bodily comfort or peace of mind stands for the general disregard the natural world has for humanity. Thus, human life is essentially meaningless and no higher or deeper order should be looked for.

What does sun and heat often symbolize in literature?

In order to convey this concept, many literary techniques were used, but in particular, Camus made great use of the sun and heat as symbols of belligerence and frustration and of darkness as a symbol of comfort and peace. …

How did Meursault feel about his mother?

Meursault does not feel any great sadness over his mother’s death, yet everyone in the novel seems to try to justify his actions. … He seems to not have any kind of feelings or nothing for his mother’s when she was alive if he did, he would not have been more remorseful for her death.

What does Meursault care about?

Meursault’s character appears to be that of an individual who is indifferent to the world. His only care is to satisfy his own needs. In Albert Camus’s ‘The Stranger,’ Mersault does care about others; he just shows it in a different manner.

Why does Meursault feel so apathetic about the death of his mother?

Meursault shows no emotion or care for his mother because he sends her away for someone else to take care of her. During the last years of an elder person’s life, they are invited to stay with the family in order to become closer with one another.

How does the symbol of heat sun influence Meursault?

This is shown through the sun’s influence on Meursault’s actions and emotions, as it can control him depending on the level of brightness and heat intensity which drove him to commit the murder. The sun is also used as a symbol and is connected to other literary techniques.

Why does Meursault find it strange that his mother wanted a religious burial?

After Meursault arranged for his mother to live in a home why did he visit her so infrequently? … Why was it odd that Madam Meursault desired a religious burial? He had never given a thought to religion. What does Meursault call his mother?

What does Meursault do all day?

What does Meursault do all day? Meursault lays in bed all morning until noon smoking, eats lunch, reads the news, washes his hands, sits on the balcony, etc. Essentially he wastes the day doing nothing.

Why does Meursault blame the sun?

In this world, the sun serves as a metaphor for Meursault’s self-awareness. He is repeatedly confronted with the presence of life, the inevitability of death, and the absurdity of existence; but, repeatedly, he attempts to avoid these strands of awareness.

How does Meursault respond when the lawyer asks about his mother's burial?

How does Meursault respond when the lawyer asks about his mother’s burial? He says he felt very sad. He says he doesn’t usually analyze himself.

What happens to Meursault at the end of the stranger?

At the end of The Stranger, Meursault is able to die happy because he (like Ivan Ilyich) is able to come to terms with himself as a constituent part of existence, and so live authentically.

What does Meursault choose on Sunday?

What does Meursault choose to do on Sunday? What does this demonstrate about his character/personality? He stays in bed until noon. Then, he spend his afternoon in the balcony.