Meursault's Death

‘It is better to burn than to disappear.’
The Stranger is a probing look into the folds of existence, and one that forces the reader to consider their own life and it’s place under all those indifferent stars. The writing is crisp and immediate, and the effect is nearly overwhelming and all-encompassing in its beauty and insight.
Meursault is a man of few words or convictions beyond those that choices rarely make much difference in the grand scheme of the world. Yet it is his choices that damn him in this world, especially by those who believe that his actions damn him in a next world that probably doesn’t even exist according to the narrator. It seems to be that most decisions don’t amount to much of a difference, but there are still those which inevitably set life in different directions, such as to pull the trigger or not pull the trigger, ‘To stay or to go, it amounted to the …show more content…
Meursault’s relationships lead him down a path that ends with senseless murder. This murder, and the absolutely brilliant final line of ‘knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness’—propels the reader into Part Two. Meursault is denied the sun soaked scenes of nature and friendship of the outside world, and the sexuality so rampant in Part One as he finds himself now beset by the cold indifferent stone walls of prison. The world of Part One only whispers through the bars. Meursault describes the utter absurdity of being the true focus of his trial, but being forced to sit silent as others do all the deciding and discussing as if he was nothing but a ghost. It also seems strange that the murder is not the primary discussion, but rather the actions of relations leading up to it: did Meursault love his mother, was he in the circle of criminals? And other moral characteristics of the man seem to be the deciding factor of his