Meursault as The Stranger essays

Meursault as The Stranger essays Meursault as The Stranger The way a person reacts to ordinary situations determines the opinions of others based on their behavior. Yet, when this behavior is abnormal or different from the rest of society, it causes society to form an opinion based totally on a persons behavior not their true personality. In Meursaults case, his strange opinions and unexpected remarks put him in this position, without ever really giving him an opportunity to be truly understood. However, Meursault cannot change his actions and behaviors from the past, therefore making him responsible in the society he freely chooses to live in. Meursaults complete indifference to society and human relationships causes him to appear as the actual stranger with those he encounters, which eventually leads to his incarceration and inevitable date with the guillotine. Meursault is definitely a man who is set in his ways. He has his own opinions and outlooks on life and because of that fact he is constantly reminded of his inadequacies within society. His refusal to look at his mother one last time after she had passed away seemed pointless to Meursault at the time, where as the funeral director viewed this as extremely odd: We put the cover on, but Im supposed to unscrew the casket so you can see her. He was moving toward the casket when I stopped him. He said, You dont want to? I answered, No. He was quiet, and then I was embarrassed because I felt I shouldnt have said that. He looked at me and then asked, Why not? but without criticizing, as if he just wanted to know. I said, I dont know. (Camus 6) The difference of opinion between Meursault and all of society, but in this example the funeral director, brought about a feeling of inadequacy to Meursault and an appearance of him as a stranger to society....