A Happy Death

by Albert Camus

But fever had weakened him.

Could the "fever" be a metaphor for guilt, and Mersault has beem effected so much that it has effected him physically, hence the name of part two beimg concious death as in part 1 it shows how everyone grows and is happy in life and therefore happy in death. However the detrimental impacts of guilt Mersault has effected him so much that he is aware of the time passing, therefore not being happy. This idea does also tie into when Mersault couldn't pay for the hotel room (or chose not to due to price) as the aforementioned idea of money buying time and time buying happiness and therefore Mersault is stripped of the chance of a happy death (due to his actions) and now he is living in a concience death.

the dead man’s head was lying in a pool of blood. The head was turned so that it rested on the wound.

Very alike how Zagerus was, could show the memory has stuck with Mersault, distorted the way he view things, distrust between narrorator and reader.

its damp breath that Mersault sensed at the very moment he began walking away, very fast, without turning back. Suddenly the odour, which he had forgotten, was all around him:

The odour, the fever, forgetting the comb, simple things that happen to all of us are being used to show Mersaults guilt but there is some sort of magnetism about this guilt that he keeps comimg back to, like going to the same street, like staying out all day and not sleeping, like not buying a new comb. All these show how there is a curiosity in guit/feeling strong emotions/death and murder and how that effects someone. Which means that Mersault keeps reliving and coming back to what happened.

Mersault stared at his hands and his fingers,

Links to Macbeth, hands are a metaphor for responsibility and guilt

hands,

Metaphor for responsibiliy- links to Macbeth

living, wild animals on his knees:

Capable of savage and wild actions

yet they were distinct from himself, as though capable of actions in which his will had no part.

Trying to distance himslef from his actions, there is a deep sense of remorse.

pressing against the fever which throbbed in his temples.

Yet again "fever" is being used to show guilt and it further proves my aforementioned points of Mersault feeling a deep-rooted sense of remorse because of his actions

It takes time to live. Like any work of art, life needs to be thought about. Mersault thought about his life and exercised his bewildered consciousness and his longing for happiness in a train compartment which was like one of those cells where a man learns to know what he is by what is more than himself.

The train compartments often feel as though he is in cell and his guilt/"freedom searching" keeps him confined to the cell

They circled in a slow, ponderous flight, and sometimes one of them would leave the flock, skim the ground, almost inseparable from it, and flap off in the same lethargic flight, until it was far enough away to be silhouetted on the horizon, a black dot. Mersault wiped the steam off the glass and stared greedily through the long streaks his fingers left on the pane.

Shows what Mersault wants (this freedom of a bird) but he is stuck only being a spectator of it. Also the fact that it is a "black bird" could be a metaphor for a crow- the image/symbol of death but if not the fact that it is "black" has connotations of death which could show that even if Mersault gets his freedom, the burden will stick with him, always

He wanted to crush himself into that mud, to re-enter the earth by immersing himself in that clay,

Suicidal thoughts??? Could be him being self aware as he feels moraly condemned and he knows he's going to hell which is in the ground- ideas linked to Macbeth which is often referenced

his fever was completely gone.

When paired with "after buying a comb" it shows Mersault coming to terms with his grief/guilt

heavy heart.

Heart heavy from guilt?

Tell me about yourselves and describe the sun to a miserable wretch who has no roots anywhere and who remains your faithful

The letter as a whole has a lot of juxtaposing moments but here it shows it perfectly, he describes his happiness but then calls himself a "miserable wrench' which could show the fact that he's lying to himself- the mismatch of sentences that opposes one another gives the effect of disconnect between Mersaluts emotions. I think this idea of Maersault opposing and contrasting himsef was first started when he had these almost "suicidal thoughts" in which he expressed a strong desire to be in the ground and intense emotion as we see this cold character with a strong dissconect to real emotions and feelings break down and strat crying on the train (from his guilt?) to being fine the next paragrah. At first I was confised but I think it was intentional to show the confusing feelings going on in Mersault's head as he has never felt real emotions before but now he feels a lot of mixed/conflicting emotions that he doesn't know how to express feelings nor what to do

disinterestedly admiring

Lots of juxtaposition- ties into aforementioned points

Innocent, overwhelmed by joy, he understood at last that he was made for happiness.

His depression (or semi-deppressed state) was necause of him killing Zagerus but after that monoluge (about time) he is loosing his guilt and now is wanting happiness BECAUSE of the time he spent alone amd thinking, becuase of the time, thus proving that wether it may be subconsious or not or wether he is in denial nor not, it all cycles back to the ideas first introduced by Zagerus.

Patrice

Contrast between when "Mersault" is used. very personal- enjoys his company- let go of the guilt (as shown through the dropping of "Mersault") and is now care-free

The House above the World, they said among themselves, was not a house of pleasure, it was a house of happiness.

Happiness emerges when Mersaut is disconnected from world

eats her sausage with her fingers.

Comforbility

Then everyone surrenders to the sun.

Nature is omnipotent

Patrice sits at the window,

Mirrors the start of novel Full circle?

From the starry night and the city that was like a spilled sky,

Camus is very romantic Appreciation for both art and nature Camus does have a certain romantic way of describing the world- especially in the way he decribes Algeria(?) directly mirrors the cold way he describes Europe

‘I’m not complaining, Mersault,’

Dynamic shift through "Mersault", no longer Patrice-colder

putting one hand on Patrice’s shoulder.

Wamer action warrents first name

around ten,

Repetition of the timing 10 could show how (already) his life has fallen into this repetative cycle

it was four o’clock. He bathed then, shaved carefully, dressed

Doesn't like this regular pattern- when he went against it that is when he had the motivaton to get ready- sense ofhis lying to himself/he distrusts himself- shown in his almost pensive actions like having a cigarette and reflecting. As aforementioned, he has forced himself to want this life style all of his lie, but now he's here he doesn't want it and (he is now) sending others letters because he wants some sense of comforblity in conversation and humanity- maybe a reasom why he was so depressed during Euope as he lost Zagerus/Marthe, people whe he confided in

Mersault reflected.

Aforemetioned penisive actions

his eyes closed, and the next morning he woke up late.

Repetative nature right from the start

Taking refuge in humanity, he escaped his secret dread.

Directly stating what I have said

Lucienne bored him.

Mersault cannot decide what he wants

streaks of icy red and gold.

Juxtaposition- mataphor for the juxtaposition of what he wants? Marthe had a cold nose ("icy") and warm lips ("red and gold") and he felt nothing when she kissed him, it was almost "lustreless"

happiness was human, eternity ordinary.

Pair with quote below

to organize his heart to match the rhythm of the days instead of submitting their rhythm to the curve of human hopes.

Reflects Zagerus's speech at happiness over time

The first cold spells set in.

All this shows the repetative lifestyle that Mersault has grown accustomed to

Conscious yet alien, devoured by passion yet disinterested, Mersault realized that his life and his fate were completed here and that henceforth all his efforts would be to submit to this happiness and to confront its terrible truth.

The uxtapostion shows his unintelligence- happiness in life comes from a ignorance or intelligence "Unintelligence is gained" shows how this simple/repetitive life has made Mersault happy over time

he saw Zagreus’ face turned towards the window.

He has become Zagreus

‘Better?’ Lucienne asked in a whisper. ‘Yes.’ Then he returned to darkness between his arms.

Mersault is now better after gaining happiness and there is nothing left but to die