41 pages • 1 hour read
Albert CamusA Happy Death
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1971A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Patrice Mersault
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.
His passivity changes when he murders Zagreus. Mersault kills Zagreus in exchange for a large sum of money. Though the killing is transactional and Mersault is alienated from the world, the sight of the dead man conjures something within him. For the first time in a long time, Mersault has made an impact on society. He has changed the world in a way that cannot be reversed. When examining Zagreus’s shattered skull, he is demonstrably no longer an observer.
His impact is brief. Mersault leaves Algiers and then returns. He flits across Europe and North Africa, searching for a place where he might belong or where he might be happy. He does not find this place. Rather than freeing him, the act of murder only makes Mersault more keenly aware of his own alienation. Mersault is never even under suspicion; the one consequential act of his life is believed to be another man’s death by suicide.
Mersault’s attempts to escape end in failure. By the time he moves to the Chenoua, his alienation has become so ingrained that he has repressed any acknowledgment of his negative emotions. He is detached from society, but the guilt and trauma fester within him. This emotional pain becomes physical pain and he falls fatally sick.
In his final hours, Mersault accepts his own fate and seeks a conscious death. This suggests that he has earned some degree of self-awareness. A happy death is impossible so he will tolerate a conscious one.
In dying, Mersault once again becomes a member of the audience. He is a spectator of his own demise, watching his final moments. At the same time, by facing his failures he is an active—rather than a passive—observer.
Zagreus
Zagreus is named nebulously after a figure from Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Persephone, and in other stories, the son of the underworld god, Hades. He provides a similarly mythological role in the story, introducing the protagonist to a world of ideas that sends him on a terrible journey. Prompted by jealousy regarding his girlfriend Marthe, Mersault descends into Zagreus’s underworld and emerges as a changed man. They strike up an unlikely relationship that is not particularly warm or antagonistic. The men recognize something in each other, even if Mersault is not willing to acknowledge his own alienation.
Zagreus is a blunt nihilist; he rejects that life has inherent meaning. He sees little point in living and loathes himself for being unable to end his own life. As he explains to Mersault, he does not believe that anyone can understand themselves and be happy at the same time. Zagreus, who believes he understands himself, has given up on joy. His existential worldview has brought him to a place where he believes that happiness is impossible for him. This idea percolates in Mersault’s mind and catalyzes his journey of bitter self-discovery.
Zagreus’s nihilism is an extension of the theme of The Futility of Living in an Indifferent World. Zagreus believes that everything in life is pointless. He earned himself a small fortune when he was younger as he hoped that he would be able to rise up in the world and make something of himself. To Zagreus, this arrangement was the product of playing by the rules society had set. In a capitalist society, earning money leads to success. He earned his money and eagerly awaited happiness, only to lose both his legs in an accident. As such, he could not pursue his dreams. His hard-earned money meant nothing to him if it did not lead to the social advancement that he craved.
Zagreus chooses to view his experiences through the lens of futility: He did everything expected of him and still suffered, so why should he try at all? Zagreus recognizes the universe as a cold and uncaring place. Attempting to change anything about that will come to nothing. Zagreus has internalized this philosophy to such an extent that he cannot kill himself; he cannot bring about climactic, final action and asks Mersault to do it for him.
Zagreus’s request is one of the few examples of actual friendship in the novel. Mersault spends time with plenty of people but he experiences an emotional connection with very few. There is an honesty to his relationship with Zagreus that is lacking from all of his others. Theirs is a connection without pretense; they are not searching for happiness or love or anything else. Their dynamic is transactional, in which Mersault gives Zagreus death and takes Zagreus’s money in exchange.
The honesty of this relationship stands apart. Though the exchange traumatizes Mersault, it is one of the few times that Mersault feels connected enough to another human to make an impact. Zagreus inspired Mersault’s most human moments, bringing forth hidden depths.
Marthe
Marthe is Mersault’s girlfriend at the beginning of the novel. The terms of their relationship are somewhat unique. Both Marthe and Mersault are keenly aware of his emotional alienation; he tells her that he does not—and cannot—love her. Despite this, their relationship endures until Mersault leaves Algiers.
Marthe plays an important role in the story. She is one of the few people who can shake Mersault out of his alienated state. When she meets a former lover in the cinema, Mersault becomes jealous. Though he seems incapable of love, he understands envy. This fascinates Marthe. She tries to weaponize Mersault’s jealousy by introducing him to Zagreus, setting in motion the plot which will end with both men dead.
After being abandoned by the fleeing Mersault, Marthe is left alone. A long time passes until she sees Mersault on the street again. By this time, Mersault is traumatized. The man who she once dated is almost unrecognizable, but so is Marthe. In Mersault’s absence, she has come to see their relationship in a different light. She now understands that she was not happy with Mersault. His departure has allowed her to grow and understand herself better.
When they meet again in Algiers, Marthe seems genuinely happy. She harbors no ill will toward Mersault; in fact, she thanks him for helping her understand herself better. In this brief encounter, Marthe appears to be one of the few genuinely content people in the novel. Her happiness is a rejection of Zagreus’s theory that happiness and self-understanding are incompatible. While men like Mersault charge around Europe trying to comprehend their own trauma and alienation, her quiet introspection has made her a more joyful person. She is a foil to Mersault, or a character that illuminates another character through contrasting traits. Her growth suggests that his issues are particular to him and not societal.
Bernard
Bernard is a self-aware doctor who meets Mersault in the small community in the Chenoua. After living abroad for many years, he has decided to return to Algiers and set up a small practice in a small community, as he believes that this will make him happy. Judging by his conversations with Mersault, he is correct. Bernard and his happiness are a subtle rebuke of Zagreus’s belief that self-understanding and happiness are incompatible. Bernard spent years being unhappy but successful. Only by coming to understand himself and his true desires and ambitions was he able to carve out a place for himself in the world.
Bernard’s role in the novel is to demonstrate that happiness and an understanding of oneself are not mutually exclusive. In Bernard’s case, the complete opposite is true.
Bernard and Mersault are very different people. Bernard understands himself and is content, while Mersault has trauma and anxiety, pursuing happiness only to remain alienated from the world. Bernard is a healer who understands the human body while Mersault is a murderer who is haunted by images of Zagreus’s mangled skull.
Despite their differences, Bernard is one of the few characters with whom Mersault feels a connection. At one point, he considers telling Bernard the truth about his past. This moment never happens, but even the brief consideration of a confession illustrates a connection he has never felt before. Mersault has never thought of sharing anything with his girlfriend, wife, or friends. Bernard may never know what Mersault wanted to tell him, but he seems to understand Mersault’s pain. He accepts Mersault’s plea that he should not die in a coma and administers medicine to make this happen.
Despite his apparent awareness of his friend’s imminent demise, Bernard assures Lucienne that Mersault will be fine. He allows Mersault to live and die on his own terms. In the final moments of Mersault’s life, Bernard allows him a small amount of the agency and understanding that has made Bernard so happy. Over the course of the novel, no one else gives Mersault such a compassionate gift.
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By Albert Camus
