Stranger

One can also notice the negative connotation of the words the author manipulates to imply Meursault’s unhappiness in prison. In this passage, the shift in Meursault’s growth in self reflection when he looks at his reflection on the tin plate, shows his recognition of himself. He observes and understand himself when he looks directly at himself unlike before. It’s in this passage that Meursault finally recognizes himself and his voice, “I, distinctly heard the sound of my own voice. I recognized it as the same one that had been ringing in my ears...and I recognized that all that time I had been talking to myself” (81). The importance of Meursault’s recognition of his voice symbolizes his understanding of himself. Until now, Meursault lived his life without the recognition of himself or his voice. This significant change shows Meursault’s beginning to understand himself, his views or philosophies, and his life as he spends more and more time in prison.

Meursault is an independent and absurd guy who refuses to lie about himself to save his life. At the beginning of the book he avoids conversation and showed existentialism. For example, when the caretaker asked him, why he doesn’t want to see his mother’s body, he just simply said “I don’t know”. Another reason is when he would say, “marriage, no marriage, who cares.” Towards the ending of the book he starts to open up. In order for him to realize how wrong he was, he had to suffer the consequences. Meursault states, “For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone; 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(2.5.165). “Meaning, he finally has awareness and is open-minded about his life.

By the end of the novel and during his trial, Meursault admits to himself he truly had no reason to kill the man on the beach. Perhaps it’s the over emotional society that causes him not to care or perhaps he truly, sincerely believes that it doesn’t matter. Either way, there is no doubt that the sensitivity of the culture around Meursault has molded him into the statue he depicts. To him, it was decision that had just so happened to end with the loss of a life. A heinous crime committed without reasoning, resulting in a debut in which he must pay for with his life, a price he doesn’t mind paying. Despite the unmissable fact that he had killed a man pushing him even further the boundaries of the cultural norms, it opened yet another door of indifference for Meursault: religion. In the process leading up to his execution, he is asked by the Chaplain if he believes in God. To which he replies with the same ambiguous statement, “It doesn’t matter” Baffled and confused, the Chaplain refuses to believe this answer, however Meursault withstands his position, no need for an explanation, it all just doesn’t matter to him. Nonetheless, the reasoning behind Meursault's strong disdain can be found within the culture around him. It is filled with people who rely wholeheartedly on the expression of emotions

When Meursault is brought into the court for the trial, the accuser realizes the strange behavior Meursault seems to give off. He then uses this information to persuade the jury that Meursault is a dangerous criminal without any morals or compassion. Meursault has no way to combat the accusations, so he had to depend on the lawyer. The jury agreed with the accuser that Meursault seemed to have no compassion for others and no regret from past mistakes. The jury found Meursault guilty of the crime and the judge sentenced him to death with the accusers persuasion.

Rubin’s dissection of Meursault in The Stranger details that he “is a man condemned to death not so much for a criminal act as for his attitude.” In regard to this statement, the reader is presented with the idea that he is being put to death as a result of his “attitude,” which is that of an outsider, or someone “removed” from society, and his motives were based on an absurdist mentality that leads one to think of death as “just another thing” because of the pointlessness of life, as there is no hope. We are lead to believe that Meursault is some “sick and twisted” person without realizing his indifference to the emotional expectations of society. The murkiness of his conscience is like a black and white film over his eyes that open to the

During the course of the trial Meursault seemed very emotionless, like he was at his mother's funeral which was used against him while on trial. Meursault hardly payed attention to what was happening during the trial and was spacing and did not help his case at all. Meursault no longer finds comfort in the sun, it gives him nothing but anxiety and fear. “As the sun gets hotter, things get worse”. (82).

Monsieur Meursault is an emotionally detached, absurd, protagonist male character who exemplifies his own meaning of justice. Meursault demonstrates several emotionless, indifferent, nonchalant actions throughout this melancholic novel. He lives his life through his senses, rather than logical reasoning, which withdraws him from being apart of societal norms. The drinking and smoking at his mother's funeral, his response to the sun at the beach,

Meursault’s reasoning for shooting the Arab is that he was there and it just happened. This emphasizes how he only connects to his actions physically and is detached emotionally. Even though the Arab had a knife and he could have only shot for self defense, he shoots the man multiple times impulsively because consequences aren’t significant to him. However, the court is barely interested in the murder, but instead condemns Meursault’s indifference to his mother’s death. The court truly represents society because it condemns him not only for disobeying the law, but by lacking the typical human emotional characteristics.

Meursault isolates himself from the lifestyle that the society attempts to condition him, but this pressure from society isn’t understood by him. One will not realize that they are breaking societal rules if they are entrapped into a world of their own and believe that that world is perfectly fine the way it is.

The novel starts out with Meursault getting a telegram saying that his mother had died. He takes time off work to go to her funeral and completely fail to show the emotion that the reader expects to see of a son towards his recently passed mother. First and foremost, when he arrives, the coffin is

Meursault was introduced as a young man whom recently found out his mother, Maman, died. He was not the most emotional person, but he dealt with his feelings the best he knew how. Meursault lived his life on the verge of truth and honesty. He was honest within every aspect of life, from women to freedom. He was never certain about anything in life ,but one thing he was sure of, death was inevitable. After murdering an Arab, he was on trial in front of many people being interrogated with many questions about why he did what he did, but also to evaluate his psyche about the situation. Unlike others, Meursault did not hide from the truth and that is what others could not cope with. Living his life the way others were afraid to, Meursault was the outcast in his society.

When he returns home to Algiers, Meursault carries on with life as normal. Over dinner one evening, his neighbor Raymond tells of his desire to punish his mistress for infidelity, and asks Meursault to write a letter to the mistress for him. Meursault agrees, saying "I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn’t have any reason not to please him" (32). While Raymond is a man of questionable morals, he acts with purpose. Meursault, on the other hand, acts with mostly passive indifference, doing things simply because he doesn’t have a reason not to do them.

This easy-going, pleasant hedonism is interrupted permanently by Meursault's murder of the Arab on the beach. Not only is he incarcerated, but also he must examine the reality behind the illusion of his trial and, ultimately, of his life. Introspection has not been his metier. It takes him a while to realize that the judge, the jury, the journalists, even his own lawyer, do not wish him well. Meursault finally realizes that he is going to be convicted, not because he killed an Arab but because he did not mourn his mother's death.

From the start of the story Meursault showed no regard to human life. Life to him was meaningless. His action toward his mother’s death was the 1st encounter into how emotionless, cold, untouched & unmoved Meursault was. Although he attended her funeral he was only there in the physical. Natures’ element and the environment around him was more of concern to him than the death of his mother. He was basking in how bright the sky was, and then got frustrated because the sun was so hot he was sweating, stating “The sweat was pouring down my face”. (Camus, 1988, pg. 16) He also couldn’t remember anything about the funeral except for one thing, stating, “everything seemed to happen so fast, so deliberately, so naturally that I don’t remember any of it anymore, except for one thing, the nurse spoke to me, she said “if you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke, but if you go too fast, you work up a sweat”. (Camus, 1988, pg. 17)

In addition, Meursault cannot find a solid place in society. He lives alone due to the death of his mother. Society cannot accept the manner in which Meursault addresses his mother’s death. Since he thinks that “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, [he doesn’t] know” (Camus 3), society believes that he does not care that his mother dies. Everyone judges him because he does not relate to the rest of the people. Meursault receives immense criticism at his trial concerning his murdering another man. At his trial, Meursault can “feel how much all these people [the jury] hated” (Camus 90) him. The jury does not commend him or even regard him with understanding about his mother’s death. Some people react to death without actually reacting to it; Meursault subconsciously chooses to do so but receives condemnation. Both characters experience isolation from society.