Read the prompt below, write a 2+ paragraph response. Then, read two of your classmates' responses, and write a 1-2 paragraph reflection/response to your classmate's response.
You have until Sunday, October 17th, at 12:00AM (midnight) to complete this assignment. Feel free to email me with questions this weekend. This assignment is worth 30 points. Have fun with this.
Respond to this prompt below:
"Did you anticipate the situation in which Meursault murdered the Arab man? Why or why not? What was absurd/strange/irrational about his decision? Was it confusing? Discuss his decision as a whole, and make predictions about what might happen next.
I initially did anticipate one of the Arabs to get shot, but I expected it earlier during the fight, not randomly after. Why would Meursault murder the Arab? Meursault had no reason to; he is a man that does not have close and personal relationships, no connection with feelings. Then he doesn’t have any reason to kill the Arab out of revenge for his neighbor. The decision of killing the Arab was not from a mentally healthy person. I think he began to feel a connection to the world, he had a friend that included him in outings, he had a girl that wanted to marry him, and his own mother had died. Just once he felt a deep emotion, so he panicked. He was so consumed with this new feeling of having emotions that he reacted on a wave of panic and just pulled the trigger. Once realizing how good he felt as his hidden and restrained emotions exploded out, he fired four more times in to the Arab’s body.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Meursault has a perception of life that is not quite right. He almost has a stereotypical mind set of a criminal to begin with, so to me it is not surprising that he murdered a man. I predict that Meursault will end up in jail and will be convicted of murder and live the rest of his life as a stranger to his true hidden self.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading I thought that Raymond was going to shot the Arab when the two men first got to the spring. When Meursault talked raymond out of it, and got the gun I thought the whole ordeal was going to be over. I did not expect Meursault to kill the Arab because of the way he got Raymond to stand down. His decision to kill the Arab was completely irrational because there was no reason as to why he killed the Arab. He seemed so calm in the way that he got Raymond to leave.
ReplyDeleteThe entire situation was a bit confusing because of the way it happened. I am guessing that Meursault meant to shoot the gun a first time as a warning to the Arab. I do not think that he wanted to kill the man. I believe that he was killed on accident because of the sun and sweat in Meursault's eyes. Why he shot the Arab four more times after he was dead is very confusing, but I am guessing it was just a spur of the moment reaction.
I am not really surprised that Meursalt killed the Arab. All of the anticipation that was built up towards the end of the sixth chapter made it pretty clear that he was going to go through will shooting him. It kept on mentioning how he was handling the gun in his pocket so we was prepared to shoot the Arab. The only thing that did surprise me was how long he waited to shoot the Arab. It seemed like he waited a pretty long time after the Arab drew his knife. I would have expected him to shoot him at the first sight of the man's knife.
ReplyDeleteI do not think his decision was irrational. It seemed to me he did it to protect Raymond. It was a little bit confusing that Raymond could not kill the man himself, that he had to rely on Meursalt to do it for him. After this, perhaps the other Arab will find out and try to avenge his fallen friend possibly changing the target from Raymond to Meursalt.
i thought that once the raymond left the house all mad and pissed off i figured he was going to go and try to find the Arab men "to let him have it". and i think that Maursalt went with him cause he almost knew that Raymond was thinking of going to find the Arab men. he wanted to be there for him in case he needed help and i also think that Maursalt just gets annoyed with the women so he just wanted to get out. after seeing that Raymond didnt take care of the situatuin he just decided to do it for him. Maursalt wanted the Arab man to make the first move so that he could say that he didnt start it which is why i think it took him so long to shoot him. and i think it was not irrational because Raymond was now considered his friend and all that pressure he felt how the sun was beating down on him and the fact that he didnt want to make the effort to climb up the stairs. i think that once he hit the bottom of the stiars is when he decided to actually kill the man because he knew that when he got close enough he would draw his knife and that would give him some reason for killing him.
ReplyDeleteI did not anticipate Meursualt's murdering of the Arab man. I figured there would be trouble when Meursault met the Arab, but I honestly forget that Meursault even had the gun with him. At the ssame time, though, it does not surprise me. To Meursault, everything is meaningless. It did not matter to him if he married Marie or not. It did not matter to him if he moved to Paris or not. It did not matter to him if Raymond beat "his mistress." Therefore, to him, it most likely did not matter if he killed a man or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat was strange about Meursault murdering the man was that it was so sudden and random. Perhaps it was a case of self-defense, but that Meursault shot the Arab five times, which is obviously over-kill, suggests otherwise. I do not know if the Arab even threw the knife at Meursault or if Meursault just thought he did, because it says, "With every blade of light flashed off the sand" compared with, "...the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me"(57, 59). Meursualt could have gone mad with the heat. Since the narration is kind of his train of thought, perhaps the sporadic, random sentences are to show this. It made me mad just reading it, it seemed so incoherent at some points. I thought it was a really stupid descision to make on Meursault's part. Going to find the Arab again in the first place, was was a stupid thing to do. I cannot even begin to make a guess at what will happen next. Even though the story is basically Meursault and his thoughts, I find that I have no idea what goes through his mind sometimes. Maybe he will run away to Paris with Marie and go into hiding or something. No course of action makes sense if everything is meaningless, well at least for Meursault.
I anticiapted the murder of the Arab due to the fact that it was announced on the back of the book and because Meursault is a raging psycopath and it makes perfect sense that he would kill someeone. the odd thind about the murder was that Meursault had no real reason to kill the man, his life wasnt actually being threatened. he simply shot him. as for the decision to murder, i do not beiliev it was a real decision at all. it was not planned nor anticipated by Meursault. i think he just walked up to the man and shot him. in Meursaults mind, the murder was a single event with no true catalyst nor consequence. i believe that Meursault will go on trial for his actions, that it will be a long and cumbersome trial, and that he will end up going to jail for the rest of his life which will be a good thing for the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Meursault shot the arab surprised me. Originally I thought that Raymound was going to be the the one to shoot the man. I knew that one man was going to get shot but the sequence of events leading up to it was not expected. I thought it was strange the way he was acting before he came upon the man while he was walking along the beach. The sun must have really affected him for him to be almost dillusional.
ReplyDeleteWith that said the fact that he killed him was not surprising. If the man pulled a knife on him and then cut him with it. If the man would have just threatened Meursault with the knife and he shot him anyway then that would have been wrong. Him shooting the gun was out of self defense. The only problem is that he shot him four times. That to the police could look like evil intent. They have no way of knowing that sweat dripped into his eyes. If there would have been only one shot then he may have gotten away but since there is four it might be harder.
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ReplyDeleteligaide7-14 is erin
ReplyDeleteMurder is a crime of passion. But in Mersault's case, he has not regard for the importance of life. He didn't feel much emoption when his mother died. I was not expecting this twist in the story- but I am not completely surprised. What is confusing, however, is that the author chose to have Mersault kill the Arab- in our notes, we found Camus did not condone "doing whatever one wants." Perhaps the purpose will surface later on. I would imagine there would be a consequence for his actions (in order to communicate the author's point of view). Mersault's decision was not irrational. The Arab drew the knife as a sign of aggression and the main character reacted out of self defense, one could say. He shot the Arab multiple times is interesting- Mersault has been characterized so far as a person who doesn't get too excited about anything- but maybe it was not emotion that provoked Mersault. He has never shot anyone before, maybe he wasn't knowledgeable as to how many shots would do the trick.
ReplyDeleteOne more confusing thing as a sidenote- Mersault writes the nasty letter to help and please Raymond. Mersault has not appeared as a "people pleaser," to me, so far. What was his motive to kill the Arab, therefore? To help avenge Raymond and therefore satisfy his friend's needs? I don't get it.
In response to Grace:
ReplyDeleteI can see where you are coming from. Meursalt seems to give the impression that he doesn't care about anything in life several times throughout the story thus far. Since he didn't care if he killed him, I pretty much assumed he just would. I didn't even think about the possibility of Meursalt running away to Paris. Perhaps he will run into the Arabs there again.
In response to Malinda:
I agree with what you said about expecting the murder to happen earlier in that chapter. It seemed that he could have just shot him right when he say the knife instead of waiting so long. I can also see criminal like qualities in Meursalt. Just the way he thinks to himself screams criminal to me. By him shooting the already dead Arab four more times after he was dead just shows how messed up he was in the head.
response: There was no building up to Meursault killing the man until the end. Yes there was suspense that something was going to happen but not that Meursault was going to kill him. Having known before hand that the main character kills someone clued us in. But was there actual suspense for Meusault until the end. I don't think so. There was suspense for Raymound because he had run into them before. But not so much for Meursault.
ReplyDeleteresponse: Meursault I think did have motive to shot the man. The man pulled a knife out and sliced him. His life may not have been in danger at the moment but it could have been if he would have let it go on for too long. I don't think he had any intention of killing the man until this happened. But fault comes in with four shots. That may be because he is a crazy man but the first was out of self defense.
Throughout the novel Mersault is continually portrayed as a man who has little emotions and is indifferent to the events surrounding him. This is evident when he does not rebuke Raymond's acts of domestic abuse or shun the old man who abuses his dog. Therefore, I am surprised he took such affirmative action and killed the Arab.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when people are put into unordinary scenarios their actions are irrational as well. I do not believe that Mersault would randomly shoot an Arab on the street; but when he saw that the Arab had a knife he panicked and pulled the trigger.
Mersault has proven himself to be a man who believes that actions are of little importance in life and I do not believe that he will be remorseful for his actions.
In response to Malinda:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the fact that I do think that the Arab was going to get shot but I did not know that it would be in the end. Albert Camus writes about the fight with immense detail and therefore the reader expects a climatic ending. However, Camus breaks traditional writing and puts the climax after the excitement subsquently suprising the reader.
In response to Rachel:
I really liked your idea on how murder is a crime of passion. I agree that when Mersault killed the Arab he felt emotions that he has not felt in a long time. I believe that in his mind it is better to feel angry and hurt than to feel nothing at all.
Ryan's response made a lot of sense. I guess I did not pick up on him handling the gun in his pocket on the way to see the Arab. I still think it was an irrational, spur-of-the-moment decision, though, as opposed to a rational one of protecting Raymond. Meursault did not seem like he even cared about the friendship in the first place, just like he did not really care about his relationship with Marie in regards to if they would get married or not. He seems to only associate with people if he can get something out of it for himself. And if everything is meaningless to Meursault, his friendships and other relationships with people are no exception.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised as well that Raymond did not shoot the Arab first. Perhaps he blew of some steam when he got cut up in the first fight.
I think that Meaursalt giving a warning shot to the Arab, like Alex proposed, is probable. I still think, though, that he was not in his right mind, because the book says, "The trigger gave..." not "I pulled the trigger..." suggesting that he did not know what he was doing.
In response to Alex:
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you brought up a reason of Meursault killing the Arab as being a misaimed shot that was supposed to be a warning that he meant business. The Arab drew his knife first at him, so couldn’t the reason for shooting the Arab be out of self defense also. The light was reflected off the knife and into his eyes so how could he aim his shot of warning if he couldn’t even see, proving that it was an accident. If you were a lawyer hired to defend Meursault what position would you take what reasons would you have?
In response to Ryan:
When you said that you think that Meursault shot the Arab to protect Raymond I was a little confused. To me the personality of Meursault that I understand is that of no importance or care of how others interact with each other and with him. Meursault is not even touched that his own mother died. I know that I don’t care for my mom a lot of the time, but it takes a person with a disturbed mindset to not even care about the death of the women who gave him his selfish worthless life. Based on his mindset, I believe he had no intention on killing the Arab out of care for Raymond at all.
The murder of the Arab man was a complete shock to me. At first, I was explecting one of the Arab men to get shot, but not by Meursault. I did not even remember that Meursault still had Raymond's gun with him. It came as a suprise because Meursault was just walking down the beach, putting himself through hell and misery. He was doing this because he was too lazy to walk up the stairs. He hadn't purposefully gone searching for the Arab man.
ReplyDeleteOne of the strange things about Meursault's decision was that he had no reason to kill the Arab man. The Arab man hadn't done anything to Meursault. I don't think that even Raymond had a right to hurt the Arab man. The Arab man was just protecting his sister; whom Raymond beat. Another strange thing about the murder is that Meursault is so detached from life that it didn't make sense to kill the man. Though, maybe his mindset was of not caring. He has shown us a pattern of not caring about important things; Maman's death, moving to Paris, loving Marie, etc.
Maybe, Meursault felt a connection with Raymond, because of the letter and progressing friendship. Maybe, seeing the Arab man had caused Meursault's emotions to turn, and he felt a "duty" of sorts, a loyalty to Raymond; to kill the Arab man.
My thoughts: How to screw yourself over in ten minutes flat: 1) Get a headache. 2) Find a gun. 3) Lose all self control. 4) Get pissed off at anything that gets in your way. 5) Aim and 6) Fire. Yes, this is the same method ole Meurry used to get himself in a world of trouble. Make sense to you? If you lived in the 60's I suppose, but to those people who are discerning... No.
ReplyDeleteMeursault acted more than a little oddly in his pursuit of unjustified homicide. The Arab was neither threatening, nor in any way. All that Meurry had to do was climb a few stairs back at the house, and this would have never happened. The murder was not rational, and it was not full of heart-wrenching emotions. Come on, if it was he wouldn't have filled the guy up with enough lead to start a pencil factory. Meursault's got issues, and it will be an intriguing thing to watch as these issues are, hopefully, revealed as the story goes on.
In Response To Grace:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace, in how everything Meursault does is meaningless to him. She also makes a good point of saying that shooting the Arab man five times is over-kill. if it was self-defense, it may have only been one or two times. Also, did the Arab man really throw his knife? Or was Meursault just paranoid about it? I think that if the Arab man had thrown his knife, it would have hit Meursault.
In Response To Sarah:
It is shocking that Meursault would take such an affirmative action. He had to have a motive for such a rash act. So what was it? Did he feel a loyalty to Raymond? Did he panic? We know that Meursault does not care about his actions; though I thought he was becoming a bit more sympathetic when Salamano was worried about his dog. I like how Malinda puts Meursault's feeling towards life. Maybe by reading more into his character, we will be able to understand his reasoning.
I did not anticipate the murder of the Arab by Meursault. He set an example to Raymond by talking him out of killing the Arab. Then immediately after he talks Raymond out of blasting the Arab he ends up doing the exact same thing, very hypocritical. Although I must say when Meursault left the house and headed for the spring it was almost inevitable that he would run into the Arab or one of this friends, since that was what seemed to be his head quarters. Once Meursault arrived and saw the other Arabs what was he expecting to happen if he tried to take a dip in the spring? Although when the Arab drew the knife it was only natural for Meursault to defend himself, and the only weapon he had was a gun so he used it. However, the amounts of shots might have been a little bit of over kill.
ReplyDeleteHis decision as a whole was self defense, but it was also rash and a little harsh. The gun probably should have not been apart of his decision. Although it was effective to say the least it also was a little to effective. Meursault could have merely run away and I am sure things would have been fine. Also he could have reported to the police the incident and they would have taken care of it, just like they did on Raymond’s behalf. My prediction on what will happen next is Meursault will be convicted of murder by the law and eventually after a long trial he will go to jail and end up spending the rest of his life there. However even with all this tragedy going on he will never leave his monotone narrative and things will seem normal.
Sarah's Response:
ReplyDeleteSarah presents a interesting response to part one. It is very true that Muersault has shown little to known feelings, actions, or decisions in this book. So thus it makes sense that he would not have attacked, but he did. Although it was a surprise and he responded with surprisingly fast and certain action it still catches the reader off guard.
Ian's Response:
I agree and also disagree with areas of response. I agree with the fact that he is probably now screwed. Also the fact it was completely unnecesary to go all the way back to the spring just to avoid some stairs. The areas where I disagree is that it was an unjustified homocide. I believe that it was a justified killing because the Arab did draw a knife so it was rather threating and thus he did the instinctal thing which was shoot him.
I was a little surprised that he killed the arab man. I knew he wanted to because he kept taking about it but taking the step to kill a man is a pretty big one. Though when I think about it mersault is pretty indifferent about the world surrounding him and isnumb when it comes to emotions.
ReplyDeleteI don't find it irrational that he shit the man but it surprised me that he waited so long instead of doing it right away.
I honestly found it quite odd that Meursault ended up murdering the Arab. It seems like his personality is one that just does what others tell him to do, and he doesn't really think for himself. I think the reason for this is because he doesn't really have strong moral convictions of his own and therefore has no reason to face the awkward situation that is created by saying "no" to someone. This is seen when he is writing the letter for Raymond; I don't think he feels that the girl really deserves it as much as he doesn't feel like going through the trouble of disagreeing with Raymond. I think it is this easily persuaded quality that probably contributes to his drastic action.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I still did not see it coming. The reason may be that unlike the other actions that he just went along with, this one actually has consequences that can directly affect his future. In the other situation, it is like he just figures that if he goes along with it, he can get past it and return to his life. I don't understand what causes Meursault to go as far as to kill the Arab in this case. Of course there was an element of self-defense as the Arab had a knife, but he still left no doubt shooting the Arab multiple times. I imagine the events that follow will involve him reaping the consequences of his actions, but at the same time applying his same meaningless outlook to justify his action.
In response to Grace, the comment was made that Meursault would be led to murder because it is all "meaningless" to him anyway. I feel that this is true about his personality, but at the same time, if it is meaningless, why wouldn't he just not do anything at all? It seems like killing someone isn't the natural line of action, something would have to push him over the edge. I could have seen Meursault just being like "screw this I'm just going home and getting a smoke"
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alicia, you mentioned that the Arab hadn't done anything to Meursault, but I believe he was kind of attacking him with a knife. This brings up the self-defense argument, but it still just doesn't make sense to me. After five shots, it was clear that Meursault wanted to kill the man. My only guess is that the adrenaline of the moment clouded his judgment so that he did not consider the consequences. I think his meaningless outlook will affect how he handles the following events, but doesn't necessarily explain why he did it in the first place.
I never really expected Mersault to kill the Arab. He lost control of his emotions and let the present get the best of him. What goes on in his mind he take out on the man physically. Eventhough there may be no motives behind the murder, Mersault's point simply may be to do whatever he wants.
ReplyDeleteWith this attitude of superiority he kill the man in what he says is elf defense. The bottom line is that when he killed him he did it with violent intent. Also when he had the chance to let up on the dying man he almost enjoys taking his life. This could be due to some serious mental issues that is bothering him and his living. He is a very interesting man, but it seems as if his intrests are always what is most important even above morals.
response to Ian: I woukd definitely have to agree with the amount of craziness with mersault. I also think he is mentally insane. I don't actually think he was able to think logically about the situation and makes decitions based on how he is feeling.
ReplyDeleteresponse to Malinda: I totally see him as a criminal just because of how unsturdy he is in his mind. At first he may have been scared by the killing. After word though he actually liked the feeling of killing him This might have released some pent up anger for him which he found was good thing for him.
I did not anticipate the murder of the Arab even though i've read this book before. I forgot that's what happened and I have no memory of what happens next so I can write honestly as if everything is new to me.
ReplyDeleteI think Meursault is pretty much just a failure in everything he does. He doesn't know how to stand up for what is right and it seems that he doesn't even have a view of what is wrong and right. He just lives life as it comes, and as he says to Marie and his boss, "it doesn't make a difference to him".
This quote is pretty much what he lives by. Nothing is important to him which is why I think he killed the Arab. In the last sentence, he says it was like four knocks on the door to unhappiness. I think this unhappiness will be brought to him because of the consequences he will be faced with legally as opposed to the emotional toll that killing someone would take on most people. I don't think he feels sorry about killing the man, he more feels sorry that he let himself do it and now he will have to face consequences that will be a bother to him. Once again we find out that Meursault's main concern in life is himself.
I did not expect Meursault to kill the Arab, although I was not surprised. Merusault is so careless about everything in life so i don't believe he would care about killing a man. I think it was completely absurd and irrational to kill the man for no reason. Now he could be looking at life in prison and it doesn't mean anything to him? I think something in his brain is not wired correctly, and I think it has something to do with his past and why he couldn't finish his schooling.
ReplyDeleteI believe Meursault is one of those people who does not think before they act, which gets them into a lot of trouble. His decision to step in for Raymond who could easily have defended himself was stupid and pointless. I think the act of him killing the Arab sets the tone for a gang war type deal.
I didn't really expect Mersault to kill the Arab because of the way he had gotten Raymond to back down the first time. I think that since Mersault was already walking in the scorching heat had something to do with the matter, especially since he was describing it in such a vivid manner. I think he acted in an irrational way because he had absolutely no reason to kill the Arab man. Even when the deed was done, he unloaded four more shots into the motionless body which further proves the irrationality of Mersault's decision. Everyone has their own problems, and they need to deal with it themselves, not have someone else deal with it for them which is exactly what Mersault did. He "let him have it" when Mersault didn't even know the Arab man.
ReplyDeleteI think that in the oncoming chapters, Raymond will try to cover up for Mersault and try to take the blame for it. He will probably figure that since people know the Arab men had problems with him, everyone will instantly expect Raymond to be the killer so Mersault will get off easy.
Response To Rachel: I agree that Mersault has no regard for life so he doesn't really care about shooting the Arab, most likely. I never thought the author was trying to convey a purpose to this act until I read you response and it makes logical sense to me. There has to be some reason that this happened. There are a lot of things that the author adds to the story that are pointless, such as the fact that he has Mersault say "I wanted her" frequently, but this act, like you said, is going to have consequences.
Response to Ian's response:
ReplyDeleteyeah, It was unjustified homicide. Maybe the man was pulling the knife just to prove that if Mersault tried anything, he could and would stab him in self defense. And just to avoid some stairs, he walked all the way back to the springs? All of this could have been avoided if he had just taken the stairs..
In response to Grace- I really like they way she said, "No course of action makes sense if everything is meaningless." I think she 100% right, this book honestly gives no hint or idea as to what happens next and you can easily take the idea that even if something were to happen, Meursault could care less. I also agree that some of the thoughts that are in this book do not aid to the plot of the book. It makes me feel like a twelve year old wrote it.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Taylor's response to Malinda- I agree with Taylor that he shot the Arab so many times because it was a way to release his anger. I also think the world has been so monotonous to Meursault that killing the Arab was so real and different from the everyday norm.
In response to Mark's response.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was completely out of self defense. A knife is a short range weapon, and I'm sure there was enough distance in between the two that at the moment when they were looking at each other the knife wasn't a big threat. I don't think it was self defense and I don't think he ever even 'decided' to kill the man. It was a reaction. He even said he knew things would get worse if he stepped towards the man, but everything would be fine if he turned around and walked away. After he said that he tells us he KNEW walking towards the Arab wouldn't make the pain of the sun better but he did it anyways with no clear reason or motive. It was just a reaction to the sun. He doesn't like things to inconvenience him, and i think that that is the main reason he pulled the trigger. He was uncomfortable and wanted to take out his frustration. The four following shots don't make much sense though. My best interpretation of that is just that he was caught up in emotion, and again, he reacted without thinking.
In response to Alex.
Dear Alex, I agree with you. The whole shooting him four more times thing cant be explained better than just his reaction to the situation. Also, I disagree with you. When you have a gun and you are trying to warn someone to stay away from you, pointing it in their general direction and pulling the trigger isn't the best way to get your paint across. If his intentions were just to warn the man, he could have simply shown him the gun and given the man the chance to run away. I think that since the sweat was in his eyes his vision was probably blurry, but i don't believe his vision would have been completely gone. Some people might say that he couldn't see anything so he might have fired out of frantic fear. I disagree. If you get poked in both eyes at the same time, I'm pretty sure you do what it takes to keep them open if you were in a desperate situation like someone holding a knife at you. Also if he could see the body after he fired, he would have been able to see the body before he fired. Thus, showing that he had no reason to fear for his own life
Well I must say I did anticipate Meursault doing something along the lines of what he did, but I did not expect it to happen that way at all. I expected it to be like a scruffle that gets out of hand and he kills the Arab, but nothing like the situation shown in the story. I would've never guessed that he was going to calmly shoot the man while he's just laying on the beach.
ReplyDeleteI think the decision Meursault made was all three; absurd, strange, and irrational. It was extremely irrational because the Arab was not doing anything aggressive or threatening, other than waving his knife. It was strange because I thought Meursault to be a fairly calm fellow, not quick-tempered; and absurd because he did it so randomly and stupidly. He even said he knew it was stupid, but he still went along and did it. Stupid.
In response to Ryan W: I think that Meursault waited so long to kill the Arab because he did not want to kill the man. Although once the ordeal was over, I do not think that he regretted it. He did the kill the man to protect Raymond, but if Meursault was not with him when Raymond approached the Arab, I think that he would have killed him.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alicia: I agree that he did not have any motive to kill the Arab. So far throughout the story Meursault did not care much about other people's problems. He did not confront Salamano when he scolded his dog. Or when Raymond beat his wife. I do not why Meursault chose now to show some real emotions and act on them. This baffles me.
In response to Mark J,
ReplyDeleteI don't completely understand where you get the idea that Meursault killing that Arab was out of self defense, all he was doing was laying there and waving his knife. Maybe you're saying that due to their previous engagement, that would make sense. But all the guy was doing was laying there and waving his knife. Meursault was freaking out and blaming the sun for his rash decision. It seems to be a bit of insanity.