One of the most conflicting scenes we have read so far in this class is the scene where Meursault decides to take it upon himself to kill the Arab that has been feuding with Raymond. Although many questions arose after this scene, the most debated one is: Why? Why did Meursault shoot this man?
Initially, I thought that Meursault was trying to take some initiative and assert his dominance in this scene. While Raymond, Masson, and Meursault were approaching the Arabs for the first time, Raymond says that “if there’s any trouble, Masson, you take the other one. I’ll take care of my man. Meursault, if another one shows up, he’s yours” (53). Raymond basically tells Meursault to sit on the sidelines while he and Masson deal with the Arabs. Because Meursault has proven himself to be a very passive person, Raymond doesn’t trust him to have his back. This could have been very offensive to Meursault, who had just saved Raymond from jail by testifying on his behalf.
With this in mind, Meursault goes out on a walk alone, and happens to walk right back to the Arab with Raymond’s gun in his pocket. Now, on this walk, and even during the murder, there is no thought in Meursault’s head that says: ‘I’m doing this for Raymond. I need to defend my friend.’ Rather, all Meursault can think about is the scorching heat. “There was the same dazzling red glare. The sea gasped for air with each shallow, stifled little wave that broke on the sand. I was walking slowly toward the rocks and I could feel my forehead swelling under the sun. All that heat was pressing down on me and making it hard for me to go on. And every time I felt a blast of its hot breath strike my face, I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists in my trouser pockets, and strained every nerve in order to overcome the sun and the think drunkenness it was spilling over me” (57). Throughout this whole scene, the sun is just torturing Meursault to no end. It was argued in class that one of the reasons Meursault killed the Arab was because of the sun, and how its heat drove him to madness.
It’s interesting to see that, another time where the sun seems to be unbearable is at Maman’s funeral. “All around me there was still the same glowing countryside flooded with sunlight. The glare from the sky was unbearable” (16). Meursault even says that “the sun was the same as it had been the day I’d buried Maman” (58). Because of these similarities, it could be argued that Meursault has connected his mother’s funeral to this Arab, and since Meursault didn’t really show very much emotion at his mother’s funeral, he’s making up for it now. The sun’s heat acts as a trigger as it brings Meursault back to the loss of his mother, and therefore lashes out at this Arab man.
Now, although all these explanations could be true, they are all speculations because, with Meursault’s limited narrative, we really don’t know why he killed this man. In part two, we can see that maybe he doesn’t even know why he did it either. Meursault isn’t one to dwell on the past, so he has yet to, and probably won’t ever, contemplate why he killed the man; he will just accepts it and move on. This makes it hard for us as readers because Meursault is so easy to accept his past and keep moving, while we are stuck wondering: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
The entire murder scene is very confusing. Initially, I though Meursault had been slashed and was acting out of self-defense. Once I reread it, I discovered that he had actually just shot the Arab because the sun was in his eye. Wait, what? Meursault doesn't seem like a guy who is quick on the trigger. Yet, we are presented with this murder and only given "the sun made me do it" as a reason. The novel, much like its main character, doesn't dwell on the murder itself but focuses on the isolation of Meursault. While this murder doesn't really have a good reason for existing, I think the main point Camus was trying to make was that no matter how it happened, Meusault was destined to be proclaimed guilty. Whether it be of murder or for not crying at his mother's funeral, Meursault's trial represents society's rejection of the strange and as a result, it doesn't matter Meursault's motive in the case. The murder happened and the only thing that can even come close to explaining it wall is the feeble "the sun made me do it" explanation.
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