Thursday, October 5, 2017

Morality in "The Stranger"

In the beginning I didn't really like Meursault because I perceived him as a very harsh person (I still think he is) but as I started reading more there were some small things within his personality I could relate to. But as of now I feel indifferent about Meursault and the way he chooses to live his life. I often questioned while reading what are some of the reasons he lives his life the way he does? Has he always been this way?
From the very beginning of the text we start with a huge event which is Meursault's mother dying and from there we see several other major events that occur but within these events there is always a subtle debate about right vs wrong, or there's always some moral debate that occurs directly or indirectly. For example, in chapter 4, Raymond hits his mistress and everyone comes into the hall to hear and someone calls the police. At this moment almost everyone is on the same page and believes that hitting someone is wrong. "Marie said it was terrible and I didn't say anything" (36). However, shortly after, the police arrive and the officer slaps Raymond but the people who were all gathered in the hallway didn't see the police slapping Raymond as an immoral act. Throughout all of this I questioned what did Meursault think about this situation? What does he find moral and immoral?

3 comments:

  1. I think as the story of Meursault continues, we are able to better understand him. In the beginning I perceived him as someone who was detached from society and didn't bother to care about anything. From reading other blog posts and the discussions in class, I can see another perspective on Meursault. I understand your point that his reactions to specific events bring tension and he is left trying to decide what is right or wrong.

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  2. I don't think that Mersault is conserned with morality at all. He doesn't really seem to judge things as good or bad. So while we as readers my see him in some sort of a moral conflict with the people around him, I don't think that that's the way he sees it. He seems too detatched to evaluate a situation in terms of morality.

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  3. To connect to our class discussion on Friday, I think Meursault lives outside of morality. With the whole existentialism thing, there isn't a place for morality, since it would be seen as a construction of society. Also his personality definitely comes out of this same existentialist philosophy. The harshness is because there is no reason to be gentle.

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