Resigned

In the final pages of The Stranger I noticed that Meursault takes a practical approach to dealing with his impending death. He laments not having read further into the specifics of execution and fantasizes about executions that give the victim a slim chance to survive. Meursault thinks about these external factors instead of what he could have done himself--despite the desperation he's displaying through his fantasies he doesn't regret his actions or wonder how he could have acted differently. That is, until his outburst when the prison chaplain visits his cell. Meursault says "I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another" but then denounces anything that he could have done and anything he had done as meaning nothing. Every event in his life was leading to the same end, and so does every event in everyone else's lives. To Meursault, everything anyone does eventually culminates in death and there's nothing that can be done to change the fact. This outlook on life makes me wonder about Meursault's character...

Trying to characterize Meursault in my own words brings to mind the lyrics of a song titled "Resigned" by the band Blur. In general I feel like the word itself, resigned, describes Meursault's character well. In applying it to him I see the word as meaning submissive acceptance, which can be seen, for example, in Meursault's lack of moral assertion when he interacts with Raymond.
Anyways, the opening lyrics are the lines;

"I think too much
on things I want too much
It makes me hateful
and I say stupid things"

These lyrics don't really apply to Meursault as we see him in the novel, but at one point Meursault does say "as a student I'd had plenty of ambition...but, when I had to drop my studies, I very soon realized all that was pretty futile." This line establishes that Meursault used to think differently from the pessimistic outlook we see in the novel. Did Meursault realize the sentiment expressed in the excerpted song lyrics, and did that lead him to losing his ambition? Does Meursault only speak when he needs to so he can avoid being "hateful" and saying "stupid things?" Song lyrics can be interpreted in any number of ways, so my interpretation can't truly be correct or make complete sense, but those were some of the thoughts I had.
Another part of the lyrics are the lines;

 "I wish the sun
could just keep me warm
and I'm resigned to that"

The way I interpret these lyrics is that having the simple, basic necessities of life (the sun keeping one warm) is all that one wants (wishes) in life and they're accepting (resigned) of that fact. They're not aspiring for anything higher--they just want the sun to keep them warm. Meursault appears to be comfortable with his life and as previously stated he doesn't have much ambition. Considering his thoughts and actions in the novel I feel Meursault is rather resigned to what happens in his life, a couple examples being when he says to Marie that a marriage wouldn't really matter and when he doesn't seem outwardly emotional about his mother's death. He is also resigned to his status of working in an office, which is seen when he shows indifference to "a change of life" in Paris. He doesn't aspire for anything higher and is okay with that fact, and even seems to get irritated when people question why he doesn't think differently.

A final connection I'd like to make concerns the final verses of the song, which are; "I'll forget to breathe someday; I've never stopped to think why." Before his execution, Meursault thinks to himself, "I couldn't imagine that this sound which had been with me for so long would ever stop." (112) Both Meursault and the song lyrics express a similar idea on death--that of one not having ever thought about death actually occurring to one's self.

At the very end of the novel Meursault realizes that he'd "been happy" and "was happy again." Any desire or hope for his execution to fail has left him. Instead he says "I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hate." (123) At this point Meursault is fully resigned to what will happen to him, and the novel ends.