Although, Monsieur Meursault is very intelligent, it appears he is suffering from mental illness that was often over looked during the 1950’s. Mental illnesses can affect your mood, thinking and behavior. There are many signs for mental illness a few may include feeling sad or down, detachment from reality, a withdrawal from friends and activities. There are a few reason’s people have mental illnesses that include inherited traits from biological relatives, environmental exposures before birth such as exposures to viruses or toxins, negative life experiences such as death of a family member, divorce, or abuse of some sort, and brain chemistry which can include hormonal imbalances. (1) It has not always been known for these causes to of mental illness. Changes have been positive in the findings of mental illnesses. In the 1950’s the public defined mental illness in much narrower and more extreme terms than did psychiatry, and fearful and rejecting attitudes toward people with mental illnesses were common. (2) Such reason Meursault had few friends and was perfectly happy living the day-to-day life. For someone that had just lost his Maman, though he was not close to her, one may feel as though it could alter ones feelings. When she passed she was at a retirement home just outside of Marengo about 50 miles from Algiers. This is the main reason he did not see her often. She did stay with him before he couldn’t take care of her financially any longer. For the last two years or so of her life however, she was at the retirement home where she made some really great friends. Monsieur felt guilty for taking her there at first, he said he felt as though he had let her down because he could no longer take care of her at his house. He mentioned that it was all right later because his Maman’s caretaker said she was actually very happy. She had friends and enjoyed her life