Murderous Regret?

Once again, another book has addressed the subject of regrets.  Now, my “big question” is why do people regret?  I realize now I perhaps should have put more consideration into my big question due to the fact that there have now been numerous circumstances in which there is a noticeable lack of regret in the main character.  This is one of those circumstances.

One would think, when reading a novel concerning murder, that regret would be addressed in great detail by the author.  That is not the case in the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus.  His main character, Meursault, notably lacks not only regret, but seemingly most emotions as well.  An example of this is when, on various occasions, his girlfriend asks if he wants to get married, to which he continuously replies in the same way.  “I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.”  Marriage, one of the most momentous and emotional occasions in one’s life, is something that can’t inspire even a hint of emotion in him. However, throughout the book, his emotions arguably appear to shift.  Quite suddenly, the narrator begins to show that he is angry, frustrated even, with his situation and the people around him.  This seems to be sparked by the Chaplin who comes to speak with him before he dies.  He tells the narrator, “I am on your side.  But you have no way of knowing it, because your heart is blind.”  The narrator then grabs him by his collar.  “I was pouring out on him everything that was in my heart, cries of anger and cries of joy.”  However, though he does begin to emote, there is still seemingly no regret.  “And so?. . . Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. . . What did other people’s deaths or a mother’s love matter to me . . .? I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.”  Throughout his revelation of sorts, he feels, and he knows. He knows that he has no obligation to feel regret.  He has chosen his life and lived it.  What more do any of us need?