5 ms·

It's been suggested that Mersault, the antihero of The Stranger, is based on Camus himself. (See the following(0)) It doesn't make sense to me given that Mersa

• uoaei 3y ago
  Everyone has a facade. Control over your facade means you can be one thing and show another. Autism is a social disorder, and in some respects refers to being unable to conceal a lack of knowledge that certain ways of being are expected or normal in society. Each one who feels uneasy about their place in society and has the capacity to do something about it learns to navigate by explicitly studying how to be "normal" and attempting to be indistinguishable from normal for others. Typically this is justified as "reducing friction" and "not being treated differently", but regardless helps to smooth out social interactions. It could very well be that Camus had the 'tism in 'im, but was a cool enough cat that he didn't let it show. It could be that he was so uneasy about expressing his "true" thoughts that the only way he could do that was by writing them in the forms of books. This kind of covertness is a key feature of what might be labeled as "high-functioning" or "sub-clinical" autism.
  • vinnyvichy 3y ago
    This is somewhat my take but I was hoping someone read his diaries in addition to the last man and have some further informed speculations to share