Preview

Why Did Mersault Kill the Arab? Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
774 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Did Mersault Kill the Arab? Essay Example
Why does Meursault kill the Arab?
Meursault kills the Arab for three main reasons, the first is that he killed the Arab as revenge for Raymond Sintes after the Arabs attacked him and left him with a cut on his arm. The second reason that Meursault killed the Arab is an automatic reaction to danger, and lastly there might have been the a influence of Mother Nature’s forces and their effect on Meursault reasoning to the situation
Many of Meursault’s traits affect the way he acts towards certain situations, he is emotionless and callous which allows have to produce very irrational behavior. Additionally he is very isolated from society and therefore does not understand how society requires him to act. Another trait Meursault has that could have been a contributing factor to his murder of the Arab is that he is amoral; this means that he is neither moral nor immoral. Furthermore he is honest which means that he does not think of hiding his lack of feeling by shedding false tears over his mother’s death. In displaying his indifference, Meursault implicitly challenges society’s accepted moral standards, which dictate that one should grieve over death
Meursault`s relationship with Marie, his involvement in Raymond’s affairs, his trip to Masson’s beach house, and his taking of Raymond’s gun are the choices Meursault makes that lead up to his killing of the Arab.
Loyalty is a major theme in this Novel. Meursault is very loyal to Raymond despite the fact that we know that Raymond is using Meursault. However after the Arab attacks Raymond and they return to the house Meursault goes out for a walk, when he faces the Arab again his loyalty for Raymond shows and he therefore kills the Arab. Another them that appears is life and death, if Meursault had not killed the Arab it is almost certain that he would have been the victim and that the Arab would have killed him. Finally the last theme we can find is irrationality; Meursault reacted to the Arab without any rational

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The book starts off with Monsieur Meursault’s mothers’ death and he received a telegram from the home he put her in saying, “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” (3) He responds to the telegram saying, “That doesn’t mean anything.” (3) This makes the reader think that he doesn’t really care for his mother and maybe he didn’t like her especially since when he asked his boss for a couple days off and his boss looked angry he said “it wasn’t my fault” (3) and “I didn’t have anything to apologize for.” (3) Even when he was offered to see his mother’s corpse for the very last time he refused simply because he didn’t want to.…

    • 1947 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Meursault is sentenced to death by guillotine. He awaits everyday waiting for the footsteps of the men to come and execute him. During this time Meursault has done much thinking and begins to think to himself that death is inevitable. This realization of death’s inevitability constitutes Meursault’s triumph over society. Expressing remorse over his crime would implicitly acknowledge the murder as wrong, and Meursault’s punishment as justified. The chaplain tries to come to him and speak to him about God, but he still is unwillingly to accept that there is a God.…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    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." (Camus 122-3). He felt as if he was ready to live again just like Maman before she had passed away. Meursault is an absurd hero at the end because he accepted death, passing the Absurd Walls and into the absurd freedom, where one can experience life to the fullest.…

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The only difference is, Meursault’s attempt to integrate himself into European culture is also the action that defined him as an outsider. During an encounter with an ‘Arab’, Meursault “fired four times at the motionless body... and it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (Camus, 59). At that time in Algeria, racial tensions are high among the French and the ‘Arabs’. To try to fit in, Meursault tries to enforce the racial superiority of the French when he shoots the ‘Arab’. In his world, killing the ‘Arab’ would help him fit in, but instead he knew it did not work. He states he ‘knocked’ at the ‘door of unhappiness’ implying that he was now on the outside and his actions would disappoint whoever was inside. The house symbolizes the European divide, with Meursault being on the outside of the house looking in. Although his intentions were to assimilate, Algerian citizens saw his actions as too extreme, casting him as the…

    • 2119 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Both Keating and Meursault distinguish themselves from the masses that seek to chain their spirit. Meursault is an outsider who feels very removed from his surroundings. His reactions are very different from the conventional norms and society judges him negatively. The prosecutor describes him as a man “whose heart is so empty that it forms a chasm which threatens to engulf society” (The Outsider, 98). Meursault shows no emotion at his mother’s funeral. He is indifferent to the idea of marriage to Marie, to the possibility of a job position in Paris, as well as to his verdict of the death penalty. Meursault is judged to be an anti-Christ because he chooses not to believe in God. He refuses to lie or pretend to be something that he is not, simply to please others and to conform.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To the reader it seems only natural that one should be put on trial, not for their personality, but for the harmful acts that one may commit to another person. Therefore, the idea is strongly implanted in the novel, as well as the mind of the reader, that Meursault was put on trial for murder. Nevertheless, throughout the course of the novel, it becomes apparent that he was, as a matter of fact, not put on trial for the murder of the Arab, but instead, for acting in such a stoic manner. Being the honest, straightforward man he was, he answered all questions in that same conduct. Once Meursault had been appointed a lawyer, his lawyer inquired over the events of Maman 's funeral. Meursault responded rather coldly when his lawyer had asked him if he had felt any sadness that day, saying that he "probably did love Maman, but that didn 't mean anything. At one time or another all normal people have wished their loved ones dead." (p. 65) This quotation only demonstrates that he was unemotional. Now, one must ask the following question: how does this relate to the murder of the Arab? 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…

    • 875 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the stranger

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the entire novel, Meursault constantly suppresses his emotions by directing his focus towards his physical annoyances, whether he is tired, has a headache, or is irritated by someone else. He explained to the lawyer that, “[his] physical needs often got in the way of [his] emotions”. For example, Meursault justifies his absence of sadness and grief at his mother’s funeral due to the fact that he was “tired and sleepy”, and therefore was unable to fully grasp the reality of his mother’s death (65). This is significant to understanding Meursault as it reveals that he is only concerned with the physical aspects of the world; the weather, what people are wearing or what everything looks like, and lacks the emotional capacity necessary for genuine relationships. These descriptions of objects and people convey that he has no intention to analyze them, allowing the reader to affirm his character as psychologically distant from the world that surrounds him.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He shot the arab five times and the arab was already dead after the first shot. Meursault didn’t even feel a certain type of way about this he just did it. Even the judges were wondering why he was so calm for his mother's death and after the crime. He was found guilty and charged with murder. Meursault wasn’t a bad person he even had a whole girlfriend who he just wanted to be with no matter what. He just did what he felt was right even though he doesn't feel anything he likes to keep the people he likes in his…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meursault’s reactions are rarely what the reader envisions as appropriate. People feel disconnected-- disheartened and confused-- when Meursault claims his Maman’s death “doesn’t mean anything” (3). The level of indifference he feels and the actions he performs: making excuses to his boss, having lunch at Celeste’s, going to swim and a movie with Marie, all have the readers questioning Meursault’s character. This displeased feeling continues through the first half of the novel with Meursault’s uncaring and robotic behaviors of watching “families out for a walk… the local boys [going] by… the shopkeepers and the cats” (21-22). One then starts to wonder. One…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the first portion of the book Meursault comes across as someone who does not care about anyone or anything. On the very first page when he is talking about his mother’s death, Camus shows that Meursault does not care in these three sentences, “Maman died today. Or yesterday. I don’t know” (3). Nathan A. Scott makes the remark about this portion of the book, "the lifeless monotone of the speaker [Meursault] intimates that the issue is of no consequence to him" (34). Saying that Meursault’s monotone voice gives the impression he has no emotion towards his mother’s death, and that he feels no sorrow about it. In the first three sentences of the book, it shows Meursault as an uncaring person. Later once again Meursault’s heartless attitude is shown. While Meursault talks about his relationship between himself and Marie, he says, “She [Marie] asked me if I loved her. I told her it did not mean anything but that I did not think so” (Camus 35). In the time he is with Marie, it seems as if he cares about someone until this line of the book he shows that he does not care.…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chapter four begins with the opposing side’s lawyer saying that Meursault showed absolutely no sympathy for committing this murder and that he is a very smart man. Both of these reasons are good enough to charge him with premeditated murder. However, from what we know of Meursault, showing emotion towards this death would not be him. Meursault is incapable of feeling human emotions or even processing what is happening. He goes from one moment to the next and never looks back.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meursault doesn’t show any sign of emotion to his mothers death, he doesn’t feel any love or sorrow for her. A normal man would feel pain and regret for not being there when she died. He does not even know his mother’s exact age, he says “about sixty” when his boss asks him what her age was. The first example of Meursault not feeling anything was…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Camus Good Vs Evil

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Arab didn’t move . Besides, he was still pretty far away. Maybe it’s the shadow on his face, but it looked like he was laughing.” Page 58. His laugh was to cover the fear, to show none to Meursault which made Meursault do this “ My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave ……. Then I fired four more at a motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving leaving a trace.” Page 59. Meursault didn’t get to see the fear in his victims because he didn’t show it. That inraged Meursault to where he shot the Arab not just once but to make an example he shot him a total of five time after the first shot killed him.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Meursault is condemned not for the murder of the Arab but for not meeting society’s expectations…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This story further adds to the theme of absurdism throughout the novel because there was no reason for the son to die such as there was no reason for the Arab to die. During Meursault’s trial, there is an attempt to create a reason for his crime despite there not being one. Unlike the philosophy of absurdism, the court believes in reason and order which leads to the establishment of a cause for Meursault’s crime even if it is false. Once Meursault is sentenced to death, he realizes that he no longer has the choice between life and death that all humans are given in life. He instead has death as his only “choice”. Through this, he sees that there is no difference between dying from execution and dying in the future from a different cause. Meursault then accepts that the world is as indifferent as he is to people and finds peace in this realization.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays