Weighing the Scales

A detailed Summary of Weighing the Scales

Self defense is a defense of one's own person, property, or reputation. Premeditated is considered or planned before hand. Did Meursault, in the story The Stranger, by Camus, have a right to kill the Arab? Were Meursault's actions in the wrong? Was it his battle, or should he have walked away?

Sundays for Meursault, are usually stagnant days, no routine, no fun, no importune outings. This Sunday, however, was the climax of the novel's action, leading us to Meursault's philosophical insight and conversion, and then to his decapitation. "It was one of those mornings when I should have stayed in bed." Certainly this is true in Meursault's case. This day, as we will discover is Meursault's last day of physical freedom, his last day to enjoy swimming and sunning and being with the girl he loves, and Camus has already prepared us for this most unusual and fateful day by blackening Meursault's waking mood and accentuating it with the brightness of Marie's gaiety.

It's extraordinary that Meursault feels particularly bad, most unusual for someone who was eagerly anticipating this bit of a holiday. The day was looked forward to providing Meursault a chance to get away to the beach with his friends. Moments later, Meursault describes

Meursault tells us that at that moment "the trigger gave, and the smooth underbelly of the butt jogged my palm." Reality was then vanished at this point. There is no conscious gripping the trigger, aiming and firing; the trigger "gave way" and, as it were, the gun fired and Meursault heard a "crisp, whip crack sound." He does not tell us that he saw the Arab's body fall, he does not tell us much more at all, only that he fires four more shots into the dead body and yet could see no visible trace of the bullets entering his body. We have witnessed a murder. There is a dead body which Meursault continues to fire into, yet there seems to be no evidence of a murder, no visible signs of murder.

The emphasis is not so much on the murder of the Arab, but on Meursault's return to consciousness. He is aware that he has committed an act of sever consequences. For once in his life, which heretofore had been assembled of meaningless acts, he has acted so definitely that the consequences will not be meaningless, will matter one way or another. He knows, he says, meaningless, will matter one way or another. He knows, he says, that he has just destroyed the "balance of day." Until Meursault composed the letter for Raymond, he simply lived; nothing very exciting ever happenend to him; days began and days ended and these days added up into monotonous years. This was not so following the letter of the Arab girl. The Arabs have a natural resentment for their French colonial invaders and a human desire for revenge. Meursault, by chance, by "having no objection," became involved in Raymond's emotional escapades and, by chance, Meursault murders the man who once stalked Raymond. Because of this decision, he now fac

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1151
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels