The Stranger, Meursault Is Condemned And Killing An Arab

In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is condemned to death for killing an Arab. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster is condemned to rejection by humanity, vowing vengeance against his creator as a result. In these two vastly different stories from different periods, the character developments of Meursault and the creature starkly contrast each other. The emotional responses of Meursault and the monster progress from monstrous to human and vise versa, respectively. Meursault begins The Stranger devoid of human sympathy and emotions. He demonstrates such blank indifference in the situation when Raymond brutally beats his girlfriend. Marie â€Å"asked [Meursault] to go find a policeman, but [he] told her [he] didn t like cops.† (Camus, 36) When encountering cruel domestic violence, he shows no feelings of sympathy or disgust. He has no motivation to act, allowing a mere dislike of police to trump his ability to end senseless conflict. Meursault also murders a man in cold blood. Not only does he whimsically allow the mere shine of sunlight to give him justification to end a man’s life, he further illustrates a lack of human emotion, calmly firing â€Å"four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.† (Camus, 59) He remains the same blank slate, without any regret or sadness for what he has done nor fear of the consequences. Although Meursault looks human, he is clearly monstrous and lac ks all emotions commonplace to people.Show MoreRelatedEssay on Camus The Stranger (The Outsider): Conformity873 Words   |  4 PagesCamus The Stranger (The Outsider)nbsp; Camus novel The Stranger presents the character of Meursault who, after killing an Arab, is sentenced to death. This conflict portrays the stark contrast between the morals of society and Meursaults evident lack of them; he is condemned to death, less for the Arabs murder, than for refusing to conform to societys standards. 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