The Stranger I: Bk. 1 Ch. 3-5

Mersault is pessimistic, having lost all aspirations for anything better because he believes that it will not make him happier. His boss claims that he had lost ambition, but he had said that "I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered" (41). By a similar token, he thinks that it "d[oes]n't really matter [whether they] get married" (41). In both his relationship and his job, Mersault believes that advancement will buy him nothing. Either he believes that progress does not make one happier, or that progress can only cease to make one unhappy. This is indicated by that he "wasn't dissatisfied" with his life (41). The double negative, illustrative of litotes, serves to demonstrate his detached tone as well as offer the possibility that progress may only be able to reduce unhappiness, not increase happiness. Mersault may be correct in this respect, as wealth correlates with happiness below a certain quantity of wealth, i.e. the amount of wealth required to reduce one's unhappiness, but being richer than sustainable does not increase happiness, so you cannot become happier due to wealth - merely less unhappy. Therefore, Mersault's lack of aspiration may be a logical response to the world - but, as with suicide in an absurd philosophy, an unsatisfying one.