Meursault is eventually convicted and sentenced to death because of his inability to conform to the societal expectations of French Algeria in the 1940’s. 3. Characters: Meursault- the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Meursault is a young shipping clerk who has detached himself from the world around him. He is indifferent
Meursault shows his lack of emotional attachment to people: "I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings"( page 41). Meursault shows the regrets of his nature but also, at the same time, explains that it’s not going to change. Rather than focusing on finding someone to spend his life with, Meursault would rather find someone who can always keep him pampered. Meursault again shows his regret for his actions when he says, "I wanted to try to explain to him that it was because of the sun, the sea, the light, in fact, everything, that I had simply loved him with no personal motive" (Page 68). Meursault shows his lack of care for those whom he loved, but at the same time shows that Meursault might not be able to fully control what he does, but rather does everything out of impulse, therefore making him regret his actions in some situations.
Because of Meursault’s lack of emotion during his mother’s burial, the jury was convinced Meursault was a criminal. The jury should not have judged Meursault on his past experiences or actions, rather than the crime he committed. Some could argue Meursault was
Meursault constantly has varying thoughts dancing around his mind, one of which is the environment. The environment is behind all of Meursault’s struggles and problems in his mental world and interferes with his physical world as well, causing him to think that the world is irrational. Holden’s attitude toward the world is particularly similar to Meursault’s because nihilism and absurdism are quite similar. Both believe that the world is irrational and out to get them. The only difference between the two is that Meursault discovers that even though he believes that the world manipulated him and demanded to kill the
Meursault is not an emotional person. Meursault often seems not to react to major events that happen to him. For example when his mom dies, he says, “Really, nothing had changed”(24). There is an obvious emotional disconnect. Either he was not close to his mother or her death had little to no effect on him.
It would be wrong to say that Meursault who lives within the society is completely a stranger to the social norms and has no sympathetic value for anyone. When Raymond asked him to be his friend, he didn’t reply, but after that he said that he would not mind. Meursault even agrees to write a letter on behalf of Raymond: “I wrote the letter. I more or less improvised, but tried to write in a way that would make Raymond happy because I had no reason to make him happy”(Smith30). Another instance we find when old Salamano lost his dog and Meursault shows sympathy towards him “I asked him if he wanted to come in, but he said no… I told him that the pound kept dog for three days in case their owner came for them and afterwards they did what
Meursault stops being a passive observer. In fact, he's "sure about [himself], about everything, surer than [the chaplain] could ever be, sure of [his] life and sure of the death [he has] waiting for [him]” (Camus 131). He went from not caring about anything that happened to him, to understanding and accepting the consequences of his actions and having an opinion on his death sentence; “Man cannot escape death” (Camus 141). He also states that he knows that he has left his life in the hands of others for too long. Edna also shares this problem with Meursault.
Meursault's indifferent attitude seems to work for him as a way to just get through his life and pass all of his thoughts on life’s
He is unable to make ration and irrational decisions when using the gun and he is unable to think clearly. All of his action when the sun is on him reflects his ignorant to recognize himself and a driving force to commit crimes. Meursault’s actions are not done by him thinking, but more when the sun reflects makes Meursault more motivated to take action. The reason
This quote really opens my mind. Meursault does have a point about death. I think he is trying to say that once a person is dead then there is no going back to make that person come back alive. I do believe he is right in the case of not bringing back life to one who is already dead.
Meursault is an ambitionless man who doesn’t make conscious decisions and passively allows anything including relationships and duties fall upon him. What it means to be human is to have qualities that allow you to communicate, have different emotions and characteristics. Meursault however does possess these attributes, but to the lowest point possible. He is distant from emotion, compassion and ambition. However, a positive characteristic of Meursault is that he’s a honest man.
Shakespeare was a very influential playwright in the English language. One of his most famous pieces of work was The Tragedy Of Macbeth. He created Macbeth to gain money by pleasing King James I .Within the play there are a number of allusions to the king that support this theory. Though this would become one of his most read and performed plays of all time, he never intended it to impress anyone but the king of england.
Their inability to connect with him stems from Meursault 's distinctive behaviour that is not influenced by society. This individualism instils dread in the jury. According to society, an individual such as Meursault, who is authentic and not shaped by society, has no place on Earth. And so, because it is a jury, filled with biased humans, that convicts the defendant, there is injustice in the justice system. As a result of the fallibility of the court of law,
Perez responded with, “No” (91). This question makes most of the court hate Meursault, but what the people do not know is Meursault perspective of life. Since Meursault and his lawyer do not speak up their opinions on Meursault still stand. In conclusion, if people understood Meursault , then he would
Everything he will say; the magistrate will not believe him, he even feels there is no need for a lawyer because he thinks everything he does, is right and there is not something to question. He comes to understand that he trying to find meaning in his own life, make him impotent to society’s eyes, he only murdered an Arab and that is it. During the trial, there are investigators that learn that Meursault does not feel any remorse at his mother funeral. As Meursault does not have any evidence why he kills the Arab man, the lawyer thinks that it will be a strong argument if Meursault can come up with some answers for the questions. The investigator asks,” If I had felt any sadness that day” (Camus 65).
