The Futile Search For Reason

The story of the Czech man that Meursault found in his jail cell, is vastly different from his own trial at first, but their stories relate the more one thinks about it. The Czech man’s story provides Meursault a sense of peace during the last moments of his life. A similarity between the two have missing pieces. In the story of the Czech man, “the first part of the story was missing, but I gathered that its scene was some village in Czechoslovakia”(99). While the article is physically missing the piece, the trial with Meursault is more of mystery, as to what influences him to kill the Arab not not with one shot but four. Although, it never explains to why he does so, it leaves one to consider plausible reasons. Though, both murders are different at first glance, but the more deeper one searches, the more similarities between the two become known.

What is equally absurd is that Meursault remains passive and detached over the course of a year of interrogations, and despite the pessimistic nature of his situation, he is able to feel a sense of comfort and belonging within the system trying to condemn him. Ironically, those witness testimonies that sought to free him prove to be the most damaging, and the religious people who surround him and purport to love all men unconditionally persecute him for his lack of belief. Everyone is astonished that Meursault has no emotions about the murder --no sense of remorse or desire to repent. Most men in his position find

This essay will answer the question of ¨Is Meursault guilty for the crime?¨. I do believe that he is guilty for murdering the arab. There is no question that the arab died from the first of 5 rounds fired at him. However even though he is guilty, I also believe that the accuser took advantage of Meursaultś quiet and gloomy demeanor to sway the case in the wrong direction.

In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.

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.

Both Meursault’s lawyer and the prosecutor create explanations for Meursault’s crime that are based on reason and logic. The prosecutor even claims to have figured out the intent behind Meursault’s actions saying, “I have retraced for you the course of events which led this man to kill with full knowledge of his actions”(100). However, rationalizing behavior only serves to deny the alarming idea that the world is completely random. Therefore, Meursault’s trial shows absurdity and society’s futile attempt to impose rationality on every aspect of the universe.

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.

Meursault's character is the determining factor in his conviction and sentencing. His social rebellion is deemed immoral and abominable. The reader and the novel's characters both try to rationalize Meursault's actions in order to give his life meaning. But according to Meursault, life is meaningless and consequently needs no justification.

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.

When Meursault first speaks with his lawyer, he asked Meursault to say that he had held back his “natural feelings. “[Meursault] said, ‘No, because it’s not true.’ [The lawyer] gave [him] a strange look, as if he found [him] slightly disgusting” (65). Here, we see someone looking for causation, and Meursault being blunt about how there truly is not a cause for the murder. As the trial commences, the only thing Meursault notices it how “the trial opened with the sun glaring outside”, and that “despite the blinds, the sun filtered through in places and the air was already stifling” (82, 83). Both of these descriptions use diction that is very similar to the diction used to describe the heat and light on the day of the murder. This can lead to the conclusion that the only possible cause for the murder that could be justifiable for society is the heat, how oppressive it is, and how it ultimately led to his final murder of the Arab.

Meursault begins The Stranger devoid of human sympathy and emotions. He demonstrates such blank indifference in the situation when Raymond brutally beats his girlfriend. Marie “asked [Meursault] to go find a policeman, but [he] told her [he] didn 't like cops.” (Camus, 36) When encountering cruel domestic violence, he shows no feelings of sympathy or disgust. He has no motivation to act, allowing a mere dislike of police to trump his ability to end senseless conflict. Meursault also murders a man in cold blood. Not only does he whimsically allow the mere shine of sunlight to give him justification to end a man’s life, he further illustrates a lack of human emotion, calmly firing “four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” (Camus, 59) He remains the same blank slate, without any regret or sadness for what he has done nor fear of the consequences. Although Meursault looks human, he is clearly monstrous and lacks all emotions commonplace to people.

Meusault goes an extra mile by beating Arab men with no reason. Meusault’s lack of grief during his mother’s funeral and his atheism depict a confrontation to the morals of his society in which he is living (Francev, p. 23, 2014). Meusault’s characters make the society regard him as an outsider. The presentation is an analysis of The Stranger, narrated by Meusault. Through the analysis of the novel, few key terms such as malice, fair trial, self-defense, and deliberation will be understood.

Meursault acts strange in different situations than others, especially when the sun is involved. After being arrested, Meursault was questioned about the reason of pausing between the first and second shot. Meursault could not answer and follow on the examining magistrate’s reasoning of God as the room was hot and flies kept landing on his face. Heat is still affecting Meursault's thinking process, making his mind a blur. Due to Meursault not thinking straight and defending himself, he was sentenced the death penalty.

The answer is simple: it does not relate to the murder of the Arab. Being the representative of society, the jury opposes Meursault and accuses him of not conforming to society's natural ways, and being what we nowadays refer to as the "odd one out". They exclude him from society for his odd clear-cut and sincere demeanor, and for his manifestation of an inexpressive character. Another example is the moment in which the magistrate, a local member of the judiciary having limited jurisdiction, especially in criminal cases, questioned Meursault.

While on the beach with Raymond, a friend of his, and Masson, a good friend of Raymond, the three encounter two Arab men who had been following them. A fight breaks out between the Arab men, Raymond, and Masson. One of the Arabs manage to cut Raymond’s arm. After Raymond is cut the fighting stops and three rush back to Masson’s beach house. Meursault later goes back to beach to cool off. He somehow comes back in contact with one of the two Arab men. The Arab draws his knife at the sight of Meursault. Meursault grips the gun and without thinking twice “the trigger [gives]” (Camus 59). Meursault has shot and killed the Arab. Instead of worrying about the consequences he will now have to face, he is more concerned that the shot has interrupted the peace of the beach. His disregard to the consequences of killing the Arab provides insight on why Meursault can be described as the