The Meursault Investigation

by

Kamel Daoud

The Officer Character Analysis

An Algerian army officer who questions Harun about murdering Joseph but never punishes him. The officer is extremely devoted to the cause of Algerian liberation, and he’s both disappointed in and suspicious of Harun’s decision not to join the army as most other young men have. He explains that Harun has only been arrested for killing a Frenchman outside the context of the war effort, rather than under the auspices of the army, a distinction which Harun views as specious and absurd.

The Officer Quotes in The Meursault Investigation

The The Meursault Investigation quotes below are all either spoken by The Officer or refer to The Officer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and its Aftermath Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

He started stammering, declaring that killing and making war were not the same thing, that we weren’t murderers but liberators, that nobody had given me orders to kill that Frenchman, and that I should have done it before.

Related Characters: Harun (speaker), Joseph / The Frenchman , The Officer
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Officer Quotes in The Meursault Investigation

The The Meursault Investigation quotes below are all either spoken by The Officer or refer to The Officer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and its Aftermath Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

He started stammering, declaring that killing and making war were not the same thing, that we weren’t murderers but liberators, that nobody had given me orders to kill that Frenchman, and that I should have done it before.

Related Characters: Harun (speaker), Joseph / The Frenchman , The Officer
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis: