In this unit we read the book The Stranger about a misguided man that does the extreme and is punished for it... but not because of the crime, but because of how he acted before the crime. The actions of this man were very bland. He showed little to no emotion and commented more on what his needs were, then what his wants were. Like, when he would state that he was hungry. The main character was a stranger in a sea of people that were trying to be like everyone else and he was judged for this. He was sentenced to death because he was different. He showed no emotion at his mothers funeral and when he killed the arab. It was just done and over with. It happened, and he moved on. He did what he wanted afterwards like nothing extreme happened before then. The people in this novel, like the readers, judged him and never understood him for this.
What if, though, everyone just did what they wanted, just because they felt like doing it? What if we had no emotions to affect our daily lives? We could go to the movies after the death of a loved one. Or we could go on a date and have no emotional connection to someone, but be content with it, not overly joyed and passionately in love. Wouldn't everything be easier. When you think of it this way, it all makes perfect sense and you can commend him for his bravery to stand up to all those two faced strangers that pretend and do, not what they want, but what the people expect them to do. It's all just a story we are creating really. Over exaggerating something that everyone else is going through. There's nothing more special about your wedding then there is about the wedding that will be held in that same venue next saturday. We make it special, we over exaggerate the perfection and we expect everyone to do the same. In reality the life that Meursault is living is how life really should be lived... Everything would be simple, easy.
You don't need to sit there and cry for days after your dog dies just because that is what everyone else does and that is what is normal. You don't need to go into a funk when you lose your job because that is what everyone expects out of you. You don't need to give up when you are overwhelmed and stressed because thats what the world is setting you up to do, waiting for you to crumble because everyone else would. Be your own person, don't be a stranger to yourself.
