In class discussions, the meaning of Meursault's name was tossed up in a digression, and my attention was immediately snared. I admit that I have a secret weakness for hidden meanings in the names of characters. It's like a spy code, one implanted by the author slyly to us curious readers. One of the best examples I can think of is the name Voldemort in Harry Potter - for the few who do not already know, Voldemort literally translates into "flight of death." When I discovered this fact (after three years of French mind you) I was ecstatic. And given that French is the language I have studied at Uni, The Stranger, originally written in said tongue, seems to be the perfect opportunity to hone my craft of name analyzing.
Like any other wise student, I mentioned this small quest of mine to my French teacher. (Thank you Madame Lopez!) It was she who suggested I break up the name Meursault into two parts: "meur" and "sault." The latter is a word in itself meaning truffles while the former is not quite a word. I highly doubt that Camus would name his main character after a mushroom - no matter how absurd it may be. A little more research turned out to be productive: "meur" sounds exactly like "mer," which means an ocean, and that translation is a lot more meaningful to me. The second half, "sault," is also similar to "soleil," or sun in English. If "Meursault"means Ocean Sun, then this name suddenly opens up a new prospective. For we know that Meursault takes his fateful walk down the beach and shoots the Arab because of the sun.
But, just to undermine my own argument in the name of the Truth (a rather Meursaultian act), Camus also uses the name "Mersault" as a surname for another character, Patrice Mersault, the protagonist in A Happy Death, a novel composed before The Stranger. Perhaps this startling coincidence can help me pinpoint a reason for choosing this name for two characters. Camus grew up in Algeria and he loved the sun-drenched landscape and he would have doubtlessly be able to explore its oceanic views. Was he an avid lover of nature? Or is it something else?
2 comments:
Actually this exact topic came up in a panel presentation Rosa and I did yesterday. The author of our article, Carl Viggiani, talked about symbolism hidden in character names and suggested possible meanings for the names Salamano, Marie, and a few others. However, when it came to Meursault's name he said, “In discussing this study with me, M. Camus said that he found the name at dinner one evening when a bottle of Meursault wine was served. He added that, despite the suggestivity of the name, he did not consciously associate it with any particular idea or feeling.”
Kind of disappointing actually if that's really the case, but I don't know how much stock to put into that. Even if Camus himself said Meursault's name had no deeper meaning to him, I think it's still just as significant if the name has some kind of meaning to individual readers and elicits some different response because of that. I don't think it necessarily matters if authors use symbolism intentionally or not because, while obviously the message the author actually wants to convey is very important, one of the best things about books is that they can send different messages to different people. It's totally valid to discuss the meaning a certain name hold in your mind, even if not everyone shares that particular perception.
Meurs= is the present tense of the verb to die in french.
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