Reflection on The Stranger

After finishing Part 1 of The Stranger, I thought I'd take some time to reflect and sort of go over what has happened so far.  The main character, Monsieur Meursault, still eludes me.  He seems completely disconnected from reality, expressing very little to no emotion throughout the entire beginning of the novel.  Even during the funeral of his mother, he does not express any emotional sentiments that he had towards her or her passing.  In fact, possibly the only time that he seems to lose control of the situation is when he shoots the "Arab."  While approaching the Arab, he continues in the laid-back, nonchalant tone. "...he was just a form shimmering before my eyes...The sound of the waves was even lazier, more drawn out than at noon. It was the same sun, the same light still shining on the same sand as before..." (58).  Then, the tone seems to become more intense once the Arab attacks- "The light shot off...All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead...The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That's when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire." (59).  I know that was a long quote, but that entire passage perfectly exemplifies a shift in the novel.  Up until now, the narrator has been able to handle situations fairly easily and with a calculated calmness.  However, faced with this threat, he panics and instinctively reaches for the pistol and fires off 5 shots into the Arab.  This indicates that the narrator is someone content with ordinary, day-to-day events and does not favor change, even if it is for the better.  His boss confirms this when he comments on Meursault's lack of ambition.  Another interesting aspect of this novel is his relationship with Marie.  Honestly, I don't see why she stays with him.  He blatantly says that he "probably doesn't" love her, and later he disagrees with Marie's opinion that marriage is a serious thing.  So why doesn't she leave him for someone who is more serious?  Another important character in this novel is Raymond.  In my opinion, he is almost the exact opposite of Meursault.  He acts completely based upon emotions, manipulating Meursault in his plot for revenge against a woman that cheated on him.  He seems to constantly be getting into a conflict with someone, the opposite of Meursault, who behaves passively and allows others to act as they wish.  Pairing up these two characters helps to exaggerate their qualities, making them more recognizable to the audience.  One of the other characters in the novel is the old man with his dog.  So far he hasn't played a very important role, but perhaps later he will serve to relay or illustrate an important theme for the novel.  In all, the book has been moving along kind of slowly in my opinion.  The narrator seems to just be going around doing random things, gradually revealing the various facets of his lifestyle to us.  Hopefully the second half will be a bit more interesting.