Mersault is defined by his alienation. At the chronological beginning of the story, his detachment is quiet and remote. The image of Mersault sitting on his balcony, smoking a cigarette, and passing the evening by watching the strangers in the street, encapsulates his relationship with society. Mersault is a passive observer, someone who does not consider himself to be a part of the world, but instead sees people as actors in a film for which he is the only audience.

His physical removal from society is echoed in his relationships. At work, he witnesses a brutal accident but does not stop to consider the injured man’s wellbeing; he witnesses the incident and moves on. With his girlfriend Marthe, he appreciates her physical presence in his life but continually reiterates his lack of an emotional connection. He cannot and will not love her, he warns. He is simply not capable of doing so. When he returns home to find his lodger Cardona weeping and feeling intensely lonely, Mersault can only sit and watch. He cannot comfort Cardona; he simply feels nothing in response to this emotional display. Mersault is numb to everything, a passive, observant figure in a world to which he is not meaningfully attached.