For some reason I’d always supposed that one had to go up steps and climb on to a scaffold, to be guillotined” (Camus 140). “Another thing I had to recognize was that, until now, I’d had wrong ideas on the subject. It is seems that Meursault is accused in senselessness and inability to cry at funerals rather than because of an actual crime he committed. The second part portrays that Meursault is a stranger because he does not fit the morals and values established by society, so he should be executed. This situation creates a conflict between reality and expected outcomes. It is the wearing of black as a show of mourning and the sustained sadness that forbids the beginning of a liaison on the day following the burial of Meursault’s mother. The social order from which Meursault is alienated is the world of ambition and the desire for advancement, as well as the environment and grief to which all at the burial bear witness. “Is he not sufficiently punished by the lifelong remorse that is to be his lot? I confidently await your verdict, the only verdict possible–that of homicide with extenuating circumstances” (Camus 132). Camus underlines that if Meursault is unable to express his feelings towards his mother, he is incapable of remorse.

The most interesting fact is that the judge tries to understand his emotions during the funeral but pays less attention to the crime and his motives. People are afraid of these differences and interpret them as psychological problems. It is possible to say that society does not want to accept those individuals who differ from the rest and express different views and emotions. Such is the path of least resistance, except when his inclination moves him otherwise.Ĭamus underlines that Meursault is perceived as an outsider when he is ‘free’ but accepted as an individual when he is imprisoned. He goes along with the flow of habits and events. Meursault settles into a style of life in which inarticulate personal needs and satisfactions dictate spontaneous responses to the demands of nature and others.

The strangeness is n his differences and alterations from other people and social norms typical for all people. Then he explained that I hadn’t wanted to see Mother’s body or shed a single tear and that I’d left immediately the funeral ended, without lingering at her grave” (Camus 111). During the trial, a judge comments: “explain what he meant by “my calmness,” the warden lowered his eyes and stared at his shoes for a moment. The first part portrays Meursault as a real stranger and an outsider unable to cry and express emotions when he attends his mother’s funeral.

The outsider novel by albert camus