Counterpart the character we see in camuss play is

counterpart, the character we see in Camus's play is not supposed to be an
accurate representation of the man. The actual Roman Emperor may, or may
not, bear close resemblance to the title character of the play, but we are only
interested in the Caligula Camus created, not the historical figure. Martha is
also a work of fiction and so is Patrice Meursault. In what follows, I will be
claiming that Meursault is an unreal character and that the events that occur
in The Stranger are also unreal. Obviously, the characters and events in the
two plays are works of fiction and did not occur in 'real life'. My point will
be that unlike Caligula and Martha, Meursault could not exist in real life.
That is, he is not real enough to be an illustration of an actual person
experiencing the Absurd. In fact, this being so, it would be a mistake to take
Meursault as an example; certainly not one to follow. Rather misleadingly,
Camus once referred to this character with 'ironic affection' as “the only
Christ that we deserve.”
1
The person we usually associate with the title
Christ, is Jesus of Nazareth. According to Christians he possesses two
paradoxical qualities: a human nature and a God nature; he was the God-
Man. Meursault does not contain two natures. Camus did not intend to make
him a god but he didn't make him human either. In the first half of this paper
(sections I-III) I will look at the character of Meursault and the unreality of
the man and the events that surround him. In the second half (sections IV-VI)
I will, by comparison with Caligula and Martha, look at the role human
nature plays in the Absurd.
1 Albert Camus, Afterword , The Outsider (Penguin 1982) p.118

SIMON LEA
3
I
an unreal crime
In 1955 Camus commented on The Stranger , “A long time ago I summed up
The Stranger in a sentence which I realize is extremely paradoxical: 'In our
society any man who doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be
condemned to death'. I simply meant that the hero of the book is condemned
because he doesn't play the game.”
2
The way Meursault does not play the game, according to his author,
is that “he refuses to lie”
3
. Being truthful is a virtue that can get you killed. If
you commit a capital offense and don't lie to the police, you'll end up dead.
Even if you didn't do it, telling the truth is no protection against miscarriages
of justice and you may well be killed. The hero of The Stranger does not find
himself condemned to death simply because he didn't cry at his mother's
funeral and it wasn't because he refused to lie in court. It would be a sick joke
for a convicted murderer to claim he's in prison, not because he killed a man,
but rather because he got caught or because he didn't lie in court. Meursault
was in court because he shot and killed a man.