Is Camus's Meursault a juvenile delinquent? Arthur Scherr is a critic who seems to be fascinated with this Meursault. Scherr spends his entire essay depicting ideas about Meursault, mainly the thought that he is a very smart character. Scherr uses the words of many other critics to put together a well-written essay, which intends to show readers that Meursault is not a delinquent or a madman. Many critics agree that Meursault is not a good character but Scherr refutes these ideas by giving his interpretation of Meursaults actions. Also Scherrs spends a brief paragraph telling of how similar Meursault is to Camus himself.
Scherr jumps right in by telling the reader that many critics make their judgment on Meursault based on the first sentence of the novel. During the first line of the novel meursault receives a telegram from the nursing home where his mother lives, which tells of her death. When Meursault is speaking of this his tone seems dull, says other critics, he seems as though he doesn't really care. Many critics seem to think that because of this first line Meursault is an idiot but Scherr argues that meursault simply received a somewhat vague telegram. Basically Meursault did not know the whole story himself thus sounding as though he didn't care. Scherr offers the conclusion that Meursault simply did not have all of the information. Scherr goes on to say that there is no sufficient evidence of Meursault being incompetent or any kind of idiot. Scherr tells of other times Meursault proves he is intelligent, such as, when Meursaults bosses recognize his intellect and offer him a promotion. .
Also Scherr argues that the reason Meursault turned down the promotion, along with his overflowing rage when he shot the Arab, and why he was not excited to marry Marie (his girlfriend) were all a product of his failure to achieve his personal goals. Scherr believes that the reason for all of Meursaults odd behavior was a result of his disgust with himself for not finishing his education and getting mixed up with Raymond.