A Happy Death

Mersault finds a filthy hotel room in Prague. After a short sleep, he walks “aimlessly” around the room and feels an absurd delight at his sudden sense of solitude and freedom. An angry, elderly porter brings his bags; Mersault pays the man rather than argue. Exiting the hotel, he explores the streets while looking like “some restless animal” (32). He sits in a church then searches for a “cheap restaurant,” and then sits in a bar and eats a small amount while staring at the strange crowds. After, he passes through Prague’s Jewish quarter. Feeling weak, still suffering from the effects of the fever, he vomits in the street and returns to his hotel.

The next day is overcast. Mersault resolves to plan his sightseeing activities in a more methodical manner, so as to avoid “crises like the one yesterday” (34). He explores the city while trying to retain control of his body, feeling “bitterly conscious of his desolation: a solitude in which love had no part” (35). After four days in Prague, he still hasn’t bought the comb necessary to tame his wild hair. He continues to feel as though something is “missing” as he wanders the same streets and sees the same, strange characters.