In The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault is implicated in the murder of an Arab man. The Arab is the brother of Raymond Sintes' mistress. Raymond (Meursault's friend), raises the ire of his mistress' brother when he beats her up for her supposed infidelity to him (Raymond).

When Mersault shoots the Arab dead, he is himself thrown into prison to await trial for the murder. At his trial, the judge asks him why he put his mother into a nursing home. Mersault answers that he did not have enough money to take care of her on his own. The judge then asks whether the parting with his mother had caused him any distress. To this question, Mersault neglects to answer either yes or no. Instead, he tells the judge that neither he nor his mother expected much from each other or anyone else. Because of this, Mersault claims that both he and his mother did not experience unnecessary hardship or suffering in adjusting to the new circumstances.

His first question was: Why had I sent mother to an institution? I replied that the reason was simple; I hadn’t enough money to see that she was properly looked after at home. Then he asked if the parting hadn’t caused me any distress. I explained that neither Mother nor I expected much of one another, or for that matter, of anybody else; so both of us had got used to the new conditions easily enough.