In this essay, I am going to explore Albert Camus' use of Meursault's murder trial in The Stranger to note the absurdity of the defined social behavior in Algeria while forcing the reader to evaluate his or her own morality. Camus asks the reader to form a mental and emotional relationship with Meursault through the descriptive and, in the end, destructively honest narrative. He then asks the reader to depend not on the law, which in this novel represents conventional social behavior, but on this newfound relationship to decide Meursault fate.

Camus' introduction of Meursault uses straightforward and very honest language. While the reader is aware from the beginning that Meursault deviates from the norm, through factual, and almost play-by-play details, Meursault dares the reader to judge him, and we do. We criticize him for not showing more emotion towards his mother's death. We expect him to show more affection towards Marie, whom he claims to love and we want him to exert a more forceful voice in the situation between Raymond and his girlfriend. However, we respect his honesty and appreciate his need to almost separate himself from the emotions that seem to

...What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he did not cry at his mother's funeral?

This resentment towards the judges, and ultimately towards society, becomes the basis for our decision to either support or condemn Meursault. Camus forces the reader to revaluate his or her morals in order to avoid condemnation by society. We envy Meursault because he is able to be honest and true to himself, and although Meursault could have saved himself had he repented or showed remorse, he saves himself by not doing that, and this is what we respect because Meursault has done what we are afraid of doing: he questions society.

What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God of the lives people choose of the fate they think they elect matter to me when we're all elected the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him who also called themselves my brothers?

Meursault's guilt, as the prosecutor points out, stems from his odd behavior over the loss of his mother. Unlike American society, although not by much, the Algerian social standards call for Meursault to weep in sorrow and be distraught during the funeral despite his relationship with his mother. As part of American society, we attempt to create our own meaning for Meursault's actions. We want his relationship with his mother to explain these actions. On the other hand, perhaps, we want to say that he was "taught not to show is emotions." American society searches for the psychological reasons for Meursault's actions. Our focus is not on the murder per say. It is on the reasons behind the murder. What made him snap?

Indeed, the gentlemen of the jury will take note of the fact. And they will conclude that a stranger may offer a cup of coffee, but that beside the body o

Some common words found in the essay are:
Algerian American, Unlike American, Camus' Meursault's, Meursault Camus, american society, camus reader, Conventional Society, murder trial, reader meursault, reader resent judges, process questioning, society algerian, relationship mother, explain actions, reader feel, meursault's actions,
Approximate Word count = 1224
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)