Shot The Arab Analysis

351 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Moral and ethics in a few good men

Are people evil or is their behaviors that or evil? I believe that people are evil because you can control your action and how you act towards other people. “I fired four shots more into the insert body on which they left no visible trace” (Pg 59). I feel that Meursault should have handled it different and not have shot the Arab because the arab could have had a family and he didn’t know. No One has the right to take a man’s life because you never know how it will affect the family. Meursault didn’t have to shot the arab four times all that was uncalled for and very childish of him. “I told them I’d kill an arab and they kept mum for a while” (Pg 72). Meursault didn’t have to say that to them. All the arab did was look at him when he

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Iago from Othello and Voldemort from Harry Potter

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are two kinds of evil, moral and natural. Moral evil is things like murder, rape, stealing, terrorism, etc. Natural evil is things like suffering and unpleasantness typically as a result of moral evil. Evil is that which has no power of its own. Evil is darkness, a negation of light. Its power is in us, in our fear of it, in that we consider it a "something" worth responding to.

    Read More

  • Comparing Suicide And Atheism In Albert Camus 'Existentialism'

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meursault is an amoral person. He does not think about the choices he makes, but instead he tries to please people that interests him. He was committed to his actions and did not back out on any of them. He didn’t have second thoughts of what he has done. He has helped a thug.(add more here). He has killed an Arab and goes to jail for it. He says, “At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I was led into a curtained room; there was a single lamp on his desk which was shining on a chair where he had me sit while he remained standing in the shadows. I had read descriptions of scenes like this in books and it all seemed like a game to me”(Camus 78). Meursault does not take the interview seriously. He believes he has done nothing wrong. It proves difficult for him to view himself as a criminal because he truly believes in the simplicity of this case---he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was all a matter of absurd luck. He does not believe there is a God in this world. He is now sentenced with the death penalty. Before he died he says, “As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish

    Read More

  • Meursault Compare And Contrast Essay

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plot: Within in the story, conflict is created by the characters dreams. Meursault dream in the begging of the story is that he has none. Which ultimately causes the conflict in the story. Since Meursault is emotionless and doesn’t know the difference between good and bad this creates conflict. In the story, Meursault quotes “Then I fired four times at the motionless body.” Since Meursault has no dreams, because he is emotionless, he doesn’t know the right between good and bad and we see this here. Meursault kills the Arab on the beach, which causes conflict because he is later sent to prison because of this. Camus purpose of giving Meursault no dreams, is to move the plot forward because if Meursault had dreams he would focus on them and

    Read More

  • Blurred Viewpoints

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    decisions. Such decisions can be based upon actions and people often do heinous acts due to strong emotions; however, Meursault does not show the normal response that is often required for his crime of murder, such as guilt. Guilt has several definitions, but the most common being the “[r]remorseful awareness of having done something wrong.”(American Heritage Dictionary) Meursault, who is shown to fail at employing empathy for most events in life, often does not try to conceal his true thoughts on subjects. This is seen when Meursault, along with his lawyer, prepare for his trial. Meursault states, “[My lawyer] asked if I had felt any sadness that day... He thought for a minute. He asked me if he could say that that day I had held back my natural feelings. I said, ‘No, because it’s not true.’” (Camus 52) His statement upsets his lawyer since Meursault’s answer does not fit into the social norm of grief. In accordance to the Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, “In the last hours he spends with his mother, he sleeps, rather than doing what might be expected of ...

    Read More

  • Meursault Quotes

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later, Meursault goes to the beach and ends up walking to the spring to cool off, when he arrives, he spots the Arab. The Arab draws his knife, “The light shot off the steal was like a long flashing blade cutting at my forehead.” (Page 59) and Meursault shoots him. “I fire four more times into the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” (Page 59) Meursault has no recognizance of the crime he has caused at this point and shows no feeling towards it. “It was like knocking four times at the door of unhappiness.” - Meursault states on page 59; which says that he knows he should feel bad about what he had done but in reality he just can’t, he is just used to finding ways around his

    Read More

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e murder to his present state at the police office. Camus effectively allows uncertainty of details from the plot to delineate Meursault.

    Read More

  • Meursault's Indifference in The Stranger, by Albert Camus

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meursault gives simple nonliving objects authority as a way of excusing himself for his negative actions. At the point where Meursault goes back for the Arab, he consistently sets everything in place – everything besides himself. Beginning with the first sentence of the passage, Meursault realizes that he can overcome the situation simply by turning around and walking away. However, he refrains from finding fault with himself, and turns it back to the beach as “the whole beach, throbbing in the sun, [is] pressing on [his] back” (Camus 59). Because he gives the beach control over an actual living object, Meursault continues with his actions. Not only does he deflect blame from himself, but he also desists from turning completely against the Ar...

    Read More

  • The Meursault Investigation By Camus: An Analysis

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    When asked if he believes in God during his trial he says no. This causes an uproar in people’s opinions of him and they think he is crazy. But people failed to see he is a person who practices absurdism. An absurdist believes that religion is a social construct made to give meaning to something senseless. This is interesting coming from a man who lives in France. The most practiced religion in this area is Christianity. It’s also not that Meursault hates religion, but he doesn’t like it forced upon him. When he gets put in a cell with the, Chaplain he tells the man he is living the life of a dead man. He refuses to spend his last minutes before death on God. Meursault conveys an atheist persona, and in this French culture it appears as though he has a bad personality. Once he says he does not believe in God, people do not see him as a sane man anymore and push him more on the guilty

    Read More

  • Evil Humans: Are Humans Born Evil Or Good?

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most popular questions humankind have always wonder is if humans are born evil, or good, or just blank. It may seem like a very simple question but once the person has thoroughly analyze every possibility it might just change their mind. A human is evil from the time they are born, but as they grow up each individual will make the choice in letting their evil side be shown or hidden inside them. Everything the person is exposed to in everyday life can make a bigger impact on them. On the other hand if the person sees themselves as “purely good” they can still have that evil side which can be provoke or influenced. Evil is always in a human but its up to the person if they want evil to control his or her life.

    Read More

  • "The Stranger" - Meursault's Trial

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The trial portrays the absurdist ideal that absolute truth does not exist. This ideal destroys the very purpose of the trial, which seeks to place a rational explanation on Meursault’s senseless killing of the Arab. However, because there is no rational explanation for Meursault’s murder, the defense and prosecution merely end up constructing their own explanations. They each declare their statements to be the truth, but are all based on false assumptions. The prosecution itself is viewed as absurd. The prosecutor tries to persuade the jury that Meursault has no feelings or morals by asking Perez if “he had at least seen [Meursault] cry” (91). The prosecutor then continues to turn the crowd against Meursault when he asks him about his “liaison” with Marie right after his mother’s death. Though Meursault’s relationship with Marie and his lack of emotions at his mother’s funeral may seem unrelated to his murder, the prosecutor still manages to convince the crowd that they are connected to one another. The jury ends up convicting Meursault not because he killed a man, but because he didn't show the proper emotions after his mother ...

    Read More

  • The Stranger By Albert Camus Essay

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first time they met these group of guys, they were fighting at each other, but nothing serious happened. As Meursault went back to the beach for another walk to get away from everything, he met along one of the guys. They were going back and forth when he pulled out a knife on Meursault who then pulled out his gun. He explains, “Every nerve in my body was a steel spring, and my grip closed on the revolver. The trigger gave, and the smooth underbelly of the butt jogged my palm” (76). Him doing this also relates back to the thesis. He killed someone and didn’t even feel any regret or anything and he didn’t even know him. Showing the level of violence in this book it reaches.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Sun Motif in The Stranger by Albert Camus

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beach with Raymond, the sun provokes Meursault to commit a crime. He says, "(the sun) shattered into little pieces on the sand and water." While going to get a drink of water, the foreign Arab uses a knife to shine the sunlight in Meursault's face. Meursault knew that all he had to do was turn around and walk away. His emotions (again not shown externally and reserved) took over. Camus states, "All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, instinctively, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes." This strong imagery forces Meursault to fire and kill the Arab with a revolver. What makes it worse, he fires four more times to make sure the sun is dissipated for good.

    Read More

  • Meursault's Definition Of Morality In 'The Stranger'

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    With the belief that justice is served upon death, Meursault serves his sentence for being indifferent about Maman’s death, loving Marie, killing the Arab, for living. According to Meursault, life was just “killing time” until he reached his final destination. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, society believes that Meursault’s condemnation was justice for his crimes, which were for lacking care for his mother’s death and for the murder of the Arab man. In the end, Meursault’s search for justice finally eradicated his title as a “stranger.” Both his definition of justice and society’s definition of morality reached the same conclusion, which caused Meursault to finally be part of society rather than a “stranger.” Both he and society believed that his justice was

    Read More

  • The Absurd, Chaotic World in The Stranger, by Albert Camus

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... purge his guilt. Thus, when man believes in a divine being as the whole reason of his existence, then when his belief is put into question, his entire existence in questioned. Thus, people are incapable of living up to their religion. The irony in this novel lies in the fact that by killing and condemning Meursault for his “insensitivity,” he his defying social constructs, because Meursault never would have been on trial is he had not killed the Arab man, which is the very thing that the French are doing to the Arabs: killing them. By condemning Meursault for his crimes, the French are actually condemning themselves. Furthermore, his epiphany that we are all equal illustrates Camus’ opposition to the French oppression over the Algerians. Only through the realization of the gentle indifference of the world will we begin to sort through the violent absurdity of life.

    Read More

  • The Stranger Tone

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    After Meursault had no emotion when his mom died he continued having no emotion later on in the novel, when he murdered a man whom he shot several times while at a friend's beach house. Meursault then had a trial because of the life he had taken, but he did not seem to care that he would be going to jail and could be executed. When he got in jail he had told himself “and I decided that, if ever I got out of jail, I'd attend every execution that took place" (Camus 138). This line in the novel shows the reader how cold hearted Meursault really is that he would go watch criminals die if he ever was a free man once again. Meursault discusses his guilty feeling with himself while in jail but realizes guilt is an emotion and wishes to lose that feeling. "I was saddled with a load of guilt, of which I must get rid" (Camus 148). Albert Camus continues to show the reader the little emotion the narrator has by including his selfishness and also never sparing anyones feelings or beliefs. “I went close up to him and made a last attempt to explain that I'd very little time left, and I wasn't going to waste it on God. I hurled insults at him, I told him not to waste his rotten prayer on me" (Camus 151). Meursault also shows his selfishness when he states "almost for the first time in many months I thought of my mother." (Camus 153). In the last couple

    Read More

More about Shot The Arab Analysis

Open Document