Essay On The Stranger

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in court, during which he feels he is his own spectator. Meaursalt gets convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Before execution, he feels guilt for the first time because he would miss the simple things in life. However, he is never scared to die, because for him death comes eventually. Just before the execution, a chaplain tries to make him believe in God, but Meaursalt angrily defends his atheistic views.
Meaursalt is an uncommon character who prefers simplicity. Readers could find him too simple and even completely apathetic of life. He is an atheist, which means he does not concern himself about the afterlife. He is not immoral or moral, but amoral. There is no good or evil, because it is meaningless for Meaursalt. He has a job, a girlfriend, friends, and the things an average person has. But he is without meaning, which reflects his indifference to emotions, such as the reaction to his mother¡¯s death. His thought was that he would go back to work and that ...

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is indifferent. He does not understand why the elders mourn. He is even a spectator in his own trial, at times reminding himself that he is a murderer in trial. However, as an atheist, is it normal that he feels no remorse and emotions? Perhaps the scene of the vigil portrays not the mourning of his mother, but Meaursalt? Maybe the mourning symbolizes a plea of a man who is too meaningless in all dimensions to at least appreciate life. Indeed, his mother¡¯s casket that stood between Meaursalt and the elders foreshadows Meaursalt¡¯s death and his spiritual death.
Camus presents an allegory of an absurd world. He attempted to make readers pity Meaursalt. Perhaps through the simply ...

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