SOURCES:please do not use outside sources, the only source that should be used is the book "The Stranger".

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Morality in the Stranger by Albert Camus

In the book the Stranger, it is acknowledged that Albert Camus characterizes Meursault as a person who concentrates on minor details of his life rather than concentrating on the big picture. He does this so as to establish an inverted moral standard that makes him an outsider in the society while at the same time living his own life. Additionally, he finds lying more dangerous and disappointing than murder. In spite of this, he does not go ahead judging people based on their previous actions (Simon, 22). Apparently, he assists another man to commit a serious offence against a woman and in the process, he does not feel any guilt as much as he is an accomplice. Nevertheless, he tries as much as possible to channel his emotions away by concentrating on more physical and smaller aspects of his life in the form of weather and noises (Aguiar, 377). Therefore, people try to force Meursault to practice some moral standards in an effort to establish order, but these attempts fail since he realizes the significance of being firm on your own morality ideas even if they are sometimes brutal.

In the book the Stranger, it is also clear that the society employs morality as an element of establishing structure in a world that is fundamentally irrational. In other words, humans have limited understanding of their surroundings and being mortal, they cannot help but try as much as possible to make sense of what is happening around them through what they know. In essence, civilization portrays the fact that humans possess the propensity to modify their environment to some more favorable surroundings and this is only achieved through instituting rules (Aguiar, 377). It is these rules that offer a framework that people fall into and in the process, ends up being categorized as moral and socially acceptable. As a result, it can be argued that the society tries to understand or rather make sense of Meursault’s unexplainable murder by focusing on his socially immoral behavior. It is for this reason that the Prosecutor concentrates highly on the indifference that Meursault encountered at his mother’s funeral. However, in real sense, his actions at the funeral could not be considered immoral since it is not a guarantee that he has to cry about it. In fact, the arguments of the prosecutor that Meursault buried his mother with a criminal soul since it is normal for people to cry about the death of their mother is a clear indication how people can be judgmental based on what they consider as moral. What does not make sense in the prosecutor’s sense is the fact that he claims “Meursault buried his mother with a crime in his heart” which basically implies that any man who does not cry or feel sad at a funeral is a murderer (Simon, 22). This clearly indicates that the society is judging Meursault as immoral based on the callousness of his actions. Apparently, because the prosecutor is not able to provide logical evidence as far as the case is concerned, the lawyer representing Meursault objects that the case trial is concentrating on the death of Meursault mother rather than killing a man. In other words, it is clear that people in the society have trouble concentrating their minds on what is perceived as moral rather than the actions leading to a person’s behavior.

For Meursault crying over his dead mother or murdering a man are not part of his moral sense or rather does not basically determine his morals sense of what is wrong or right (Aguiar, 377). In other words, this are simply activities that cannot be said to be unique only to his life but can be said to be defining him in the sense that, he may not be Meursault if he did not go through the agony of losing his own mother and committing murder. In essence, each person has their own dark places hence making Meursault murder of the Arab to be in line with the argument of this concept since he said that he killed the man basically because of the sun (Simon, 25). It is for this reason that the actions of Meursault cannot be classified as immoral. Furthermore, the morals of the society can be said to be inefficacy since they play a very crucial role in modifying the behavior and thoughts of Meursault.

People tends to force Meursault to practice some moral standards in an effort to establish order, but these attempts fail since he realizes the significance of being firm on your own morality ideas. Additionally, based on the Book the stranger, it is clear that the issues that individuals experience in their everyday life are maintaining one’s brand, conforming to the new trends and fashion, and being politically correct. In other words, people in most cases get distracted by what other individuals are doing. Hence, societal morality can be argued to play a very crucial role in setting a trap for some people in the sense that if they do not obey the ethical code then they may be considered immoral. Therefore, just like Meursault, the only way that people can move ahead is by focusing on their own freedom and stop thinking about how others perceive them.

Works Cited

Aguiar, Micaela. "Non-verbal and paraverbal mechanisms in the construction of ethos on the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus." Revista Diacritical, vol. 28, no. 1, 2014, pp. 377-405.

Simon, John. "LOOKING FOR" THE STRANGER" Albert Camus and the Life of a Literary Classic." University of Chicago Press, 2016