Stranger Existentalism

The other part in The Stranger that helped me to understand existentialism better was at the end of the novel when Meursault is sentenced to death. One part of the novel that helped me to understand existentialism better was when Meursault shot the Arab on the beach and how he handled the situation afterwards. He is ready to die, and is looking forward to being less alone. ” For him there was no difference between life and death, everything was the same to him such as when Marie asked if he would marry her and he said it didn't matter and that it was up to her. When the time came for Meursault to go he was well prepared. For the first time in the whole book he realizes what his mother felt before she died, only because he was put in the same situation. On the last page Meursault said, “I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. In the next chapter Meursault can't understand why he would need an attorney for his case because it's simple to him, he had murdered a man and was now ready to pay the consequences. The Arab had drawn his knife and held it up to Meursault, but this wasn't what bothered him, it was the light from the sun that shot off the Arabs knife, and the intense heat along with the salt from his sweat in his eyes that was bothering him. (Sartre)”

There were two parts in The Stranger that helped me better understand existentialism the most. He had made a choice that might not have been the right one but he accepted it and was ready to go through with his decision to wherever it would lead. I don't think Meursault was an existentialist but I do think that he faced death the way an existentialist would have. This point really helps me to understand existentialism because throughout the whole book his mother's death had absolutely no meaning to him at all but now when he is put in the same situation, facing death, he finally realizes what it must have been like for her and for the first time in the whole story thinks about her feelings.