The Outsider

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Topic: The Outsider is not about the murder of an Arab but about the inability of society to understand Mersault’s Detachment

In The Outsider, Meursault is ultimately punished not for the murder of the Arab, but for his lack of adherence to the social codes governing appropriate behavior after his mother’s death. In this respect we can argue that Camus novel is not about the Arab’s murder but it is about the inability of society to understand Meursault’s detachment. The murder trial turns into a trial that judges and condemns Meursault because he appears indifferent, removed from society, and his behavior in unacceptable.

Meursault is a very quiet person who rarely shows any external emotions when a situation in which most people would.
In the opening scene of the book, we find out that his mother has just died. The first page alone gives many hints about Meursault's character and it shows him to be almost unaware of his emotions. He feels the need to apologize for things that are out of his control and to thank people for things that they had nothing to do with. He basically apologizes to his boss when he asks for two days off of work to go the funeral for his dead mother. He goes through the entire funeral without displaying any external emotions, saying that he doesn't want to see the body and that he doesn't want to pay his last respects. Mersault’s' mothers funeral Meursault does not cry or behave the way that society expects him to act. This is because Meursault is an existentialist, and does not act in the appropriate manner in which society expects, which makes him a stranger from the people around him
He is, further, depicted enjoying a cup of coffee with milk during the vigil, and having a smoke with a caretaker at the nursing home in which his mother died, which is considered strange in the place and time.
In addition to the townspeople judging Meursault because he sent his mother away, the townspeople continue to dislike him because he showed lack of emotion during her funeral. Which, again, goes back to the way people perceive an individual should live their life. In society crying is associated with a funeral, so therefore it is considered unusual, especially if a parent passes on, that an individual not cry during this period of time. The people of Algiers believe that since Meursault showed no emotions during his mother’s funeral he was ...

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... as bad because they were not perceived as normal. Society perceives something that is different as something that is bad because people are not willing to be open minded, which happens a lot in today society. Furthermore, society feels safe with a judicial system that works to protect them. Meursault murdered a man and society thinks that he should be put away to protect them from being hurt by that same individual. The judicial system comforts them, so they feel safe in the streets they live in. Meursault choose not to believe in a god.
If you believe in god then there is a higher being that will protect us in life after death. There is no proven fact that this is true, but society chooses to believe in this for comfort reason.

In conclusion Meursault is ultimately punished not for the murder of the Arab, but for his lack of adherence to the social codes governing appropriate behavior after his mother’s death. Throughout the novel we see Meursault act a way that society doesn’t appreciate, this leads him to his downfall.
The murder trial turns into a trial that judged and condemns Meursault because he displays attitudes and behavior that are considered socially unacceptable.

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