Albert Camus' The Stranger explores the causes for Monsieur Meursault's murderous act, portraying Meursault's increasing feelings of indifference toward life following his mother's death. Meursault becomes ignorant to social values and conventions, thinking they constrict him, for he veers toward the 'I don't disrupt what you're doing, so don't disrupt what I'm doing' outlook. He is more interested in the simple, physical actions rather than emotional feelings because he finds routine and reliance there. Physical actions can be consciously controlled, but others influence emotions and opinions. There are many examples of Meursault's indifference that ultimately culminate into the careless murder of the Arab. These include Meursault's unemotional opinion of his mother's life and death, his casual continuation of daily routines immediately following the funeral, and the apathetic distinction between the physical actions he positively plays out with the people who care about him and the true lack of emotional feelings he has for them. These people are Raymond and Marie mostly--people he uses to fill the void his mother's death left.
             Meursault shows indifference toward his mother, especially while suppressing the emotional pain derived from the reality of her death. Meursault's life is simple and habitual. He does not see life as important or complex, and he finds pleasure in merely existing, rather than living. Although he did not loathe his mother before she died, Meursault felt like he and his mother had nothing to say to each other, displaying where the indifference comes from. Meursault claims, "it had been a long time since she'd had anything to say to me, and she was bored all by herself" (45). He puts his mother in a nursing home, taking the physical approach of discarding something troublesome. He makes her mother's entrance into the nursing home her own fault. He does not see the purpose of presenting himself fav...