Is_Mersault_Really_a_Bad_Person_

Is mersault really a bad person' Is Meursault a bad person' Meursault was a man who felt no sadness after his mother’s death, and no contrition for killing a person. Yet some praised him for being an “honest chap”, a “tireless worker” and a “model son”. “Good” would be a standard so subjective that there is no definite answer, different institutions or people would have different perspective and different judgments on whether Meursault is bad or not. “In our society any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral is liable to be condemned to death.” This paradoxical sentence said by Albert Camus hides within itself a stern logic: anything or anyone that violates the rules of the society shall be punished. “I ask you for this man’s head” said the prosecutor…and of course Meursault lost his life. The society needs people who conform to social norms, betrayers and rebellions languish in the realms of unlawfulness, and deserves to be punished. According to the social contract, members of the society, wearied by living in an unending state of war and by a freedom rendered useless by their uncertainty of retaining it, they sacrifice a part of that freedom in order to enjoy what remains in security and calm. Commiting a crime, such as killing a man which Meursault did, would be considered as a breach of the social contract, thus the society has every right to punish him. Thus from a societal point of view, Meursault is a bad man. The society, for its security, requires its members to follow the moral values and norms. Thus from the point of view of society and judiciary, Meursault was a bad man as he did not obey the law, he killed another man, thus he is a threat to others in the society. Furthermore, Meursault did not believe in god. To many others in the society who believe firmly in god, they would not understand, nor forgive his “sin”. “He wanted to talk to me about God again, but I went up to him and made one last attempt to explain to him that I only had a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God.” Mersault could not believe in god because he does not wish for other life, as he thinks it would make no difference than the one he lives in now. These would be words of blasphemy to god-believers, such as the prosecutor, who called Meursault Mr Antichrist. In their eyes, Meursault would be a sinner and definitely not a good, pious man. However to Meursault’s friends and acquaintances, they understand what a person Meursault was, and thus would consider him as a “decent, honest chap”, ”honest, tireless worker”. Emmanuel, Celeste, Marie, Raymond, Salamano, and Masson could understand the incident as a”mishap” as they understand Meursault would never harbour evil thoughts to kill a man. Moreover, Raymond was involved with the whole incident because the Arab killed was the brother of his ex-girlfriend, and the whole time Meursault was merely supposed to help Raymond. Therefore, to Meursault’s friends, he is not a bad man. He was an honest man with few words, but helpful, with empathy and definitely not a soul-less murderer as portrayed by the prosecutor. As a reader, I have my judgment for Meursault as well. As I am reading from Meursault’s own point of view, I understand much of the thoughts within him. If we forget about morality and social norms, just judging Meursault from a humanistic point of view, he is not wrong. He did not cry for the decease of her mother, but he loved her, and had tried to understand her. He probably didn’t really love marie but he was willing to marry her, because he doesn’t think saying ‘I love u’ meant much. He is not interested in the promotion to Paris because he didn’t think it would change his life though like everyone else, he used to have aspirations for a successful career. He refused to believe in god, because he didn’t think his life in the “future” would be better than now. I do not think Meursault is numb nor is he soul-less. I sympathise with him greatly, feeling suges of anger when the presecutor accused him of what I think he is not. In fact I would say Meursault is a wise man. His passion for truth and his reluctance to compromise with anything less than honest is respectable. “All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning”, thus in my opinion Meursault is a not a bad man but a wise man. If Meursault were to be the embodiment of truth, the sad truth is that there is no place for absolute truth in the world. We cannot stop lying, because it might make us “immoral”. Ironical as it sounds, this was what happened to Meursault. As there is no truth, there is not a definite bad man. This is absurdism, that there is no meaning to be found in the world beyond what meaning we give to it. Therefore, there is no definite judgment. But, in my opinion, I respect him thus he is not really a bad person.