Walking into a room there are two people sitting on either side of you. To your right, sits a female who is dressed in all black and has multiple piercings and several tattoos. To your left is an average looking and plainly dressed middle aged man. At first glance in each of their directions whom would you suspect to be victim of circumstances and who would you believe to be a murderer? Understanding the scenario can give insight on how in the criminal justice system, appearances and actions contrary to social norms, in addition to prejudice, can influence court decisions and jury trials.
The judge and jury’s understanding of why people commit crimes can influence their decisions. Such decisions can be based upon actions and people often do heinous acts due to strong emotions; however, Meursault does not show the normal response that is often required for his crime of murder, such as guilt. Guilt has several definitions, but the most common being the “[r]remorseful awareness of having done something wrong.”(American Heritage Dictionary) Meursault, who is shown to fail at employing empathy for most events in life, often does not try to conceal his true thoughts on subjects. This is seen when Meursault, along with his lawyer, prepare for his trial. Meursault states, “[My lawyer] asked if I had felt any sadness that day... He thought for a minute. He asked me if he could say that that day I had held back my natural feelings. I said, ‘No, because it’s not true.’” (Camus 52) His statement upsets his lawyer since Meursault’s answer does not fit into the social norm of grief. In accordance to the Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, “In the last hours he spends with his mother, he sleeps, rather than doing what might be expected of ...
... middle of paper ...
... of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Company 25 Nov. 2013
Jonsson, Patrik. "As LA Remembers Race Riots, Trayvon Martin's Name is Invoked." The Christian Science MonitorApr 28 2012. ProQuest.Web. 25 Nov. 2013 .Kaufman, Whitley. "Is there a "Right" to Self-Defense?" Criminal Justice Ethics 23.1 (2004): 20-32. ProQuest.Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Larsson, Stieg, and Reg Keeland. "27; 30." The Girl Who Played with Fire. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. 410-53. Print.
Larsson, Stieg, and Reg Keeland. "Part Four." The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. 467. Print.
Lessick, Chris. "individual and society in The Stranger." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Nov. 2013
"Metro Briefing Connecticut: Bridgeport: Emotional Disturbance Defense in Killing." New York Times: 0. May 03 2007. ProQuest.Web. 25 Nov. 2013 .
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Booth, Alison, and Kelly Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Meursault resists being typecast into an archetypal moral category in many of his deeds and actions. Many of his actions in Part One of the novel help contribute to the fuzzy picture of the character. For example, at his mother's funeral, Meursault does not cry or weep in the typical mourning fashion, but rather sleeps during the vigil and entices one of the other mourners present to smoke a cigarette with him. This would be typically considered "evil" behavior, in the context of the story. He could easily been seen as disrespectful and seditious toward his mother and the established procedures of mourning, which seem to be fairly definite at that era in France. However, this "evil" mold can easily be shaken if one considers that Meursault may be more shaken than anyone else present at the funeral. Considering the other events in the novel, it seems as though he does not have a large capacity for emotion. Based on this, it is not unreasonable to assume that the events leading up to and including his mother's death may have overtaxed his limited scope of emotion, and he was therefore nearly incapable of mourning in the "normal" or expected way for his mother, but rather had to resort to his own, more c...
“Soon one of the women started crying… I wished I didn’t have to listen to her anymore,” (Camus 10). The statement seems uncaring at first. In theory, Meursault should hardly notice the woman from his haze of grief over losing his mother, but Meursault is simply ready for the process to be done with. His mother was old; old people die. The sorrow did not envelope Meursault like some think it should have. His thoughts were focused on his physical self, who wanted the lady to stop crying. Outside of the setting of a vigil, it would be entirely reasonable to wish for a lady to stop crying and causing a commotion. Yet, later in the novel, Meursault finds himself being damned for this thought and similar moments in his mother’s funeral proceedings. For remaining stoic, he appeared uncaring and became “morally guilty of killing his mother” as the prosecutor decided (Camus 101). There was no sound reasoning in this assertion. Common sense, had anyone attempted to use it, would have entirely shut down the prosecutor’s argument. There is no way to be “morally guilty” of anything. The only
The entire second half of the novel is set in the courtroom, which symbolizes society’s views towards life and social order. After Meursault murderers an Arab man on the beach while vacationing with his friends, he is convicted and is placed on trial for his crime. But the court system during this time was designed to focus more on the character of an individual as opposed to the crime itself. The fact that Merault killed the Arab is mentioned very few times in court. The prosecutor continuously focuses on how Meursault lacks emotions and normal human reactions to situations, saying, “Gentlemen of the jury, the day after his mother’s death, this man was out swimming, starting up dubious liaison, and going to the movies” (94). Because of this, Meursault comes off as a cold, calculated monster who lacks morals. His personality is what is being tried before the court. The judge is the moral dictator and the jurors are sent to place judgement on the accused. In contrast to the courtroom, Meursault refuses to judge others. He watches people from his balcony, but he is indifferent and objective when describing them. “ A little later, the local boys went by, hair greased back, red ties, tight-fitting jackets,with embroidered pocket handkerchiefs and square...
Larsson, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Trans. Reg Keeland. New York City: Random House, Inc., 2008. Print.
Christopher W. Behan, When Turnabout Is Fair Play: Character Evidence and Self-Defense in Homicide and Assault Cases, 86 Or. L. Rev. 733, 746 (2007).
Cam, Heather American Literature; Oct87, Vol. 59 Issue 3, p429, 4p Academic Search Complete Ebesco. Web. 25 July 2011
...according to him, a man who is morally guilty of killing his mother severs himself from society in the same way as a man who raises a murderous hand against the father who begat him.” This quote is telling how society input their feelings and ideas onto Meursault. The persecutor compares Meursault emotionless and lack on remorse for his killing the same as a person killing their own father. Society believes Meursault as an emotionless killer or a stranger to society’s morality, Meursault then can’t explain why he couldn’t feel any emotion, drives, or thoughts of remorse for his murder. Lastly, when the chaplain visits Meursault against his wishes, this scene showed how society expects everyone to ask for forgiveness from god when near death. Meursault then thinks it is absurd and refused to believe in him because he says it’s ridiculous and there’s no time at all.
However, upon deciding to kill a man, he quickly learns that his previous unconcern will not diminish the consequences for his deed. Put to death, Meursault remains stagnant on his opinion of justice, refusing to ever consider that justice possesses any worth. Upon receiving a visit from a chaplain hours before his execution, he merely uttered “I had been right, I was still right, I was always right” (Camus 121) Meursault did not understand why the chaplain wanted to force him to turn to God and gain a moral sense about life. Thus he simply reiterated the motto that he lived by: an apathetic, self-absorbed idea that nothing in life means anything. Meursault’s continual refusal to accept the moral standards of the world prohibited him from every truly finding a true sense of
2nd ed. of the book. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center -. Web.
Meursault symbolizes the unwanted piece in a puzzle. He does not live up to the expectation of a “normal” society and, in turn, is alienated from it. To the French-Algerian society he is detached due to the fact that he does not show any grief for his mom’s death. According to Meursault his mother's death was normal because she was already old. While in prison Meursault speaks to himself and says, “I could see that it makes little difference whether one dies at the age of thirty or threescore and ten—since, in either case, other men and women will continue living, the world will go on as before “(Camus 71). Meursault’s reaction or lack of one, to the death of his mother is a significant example demonstrating his views on death. His reaction also relates to the views the author Albert Camus has on death. They both share the view that everyone will eventually die and that death would be the end of life. Meursault’s reasoning for his mother’s dead demonstrates how honest he was to himself, he did not try to find other reasoning other than she was old and it was her time to go.
The trial portrays the absurdist ideal that absolute truth does not exist. This ideal destroys the very purpose of the trial, which seeks to place a rational explanation on Meursault’s senseless killing of the Arab. However, because there is no rational explanation for Meursault’s murder, the defense and prosecution merely end up constructing their own explanations. They each declare their statements to be the truth, but are all based on false assumptions. The prosecution itself is viewed as absurd. The prosecutor tries to persuade the jury that Meursault has no feelings or morals by asking Perez if “he had at least seen [Meursault] cry” (91). The prosecutor then continues to turn the crowd against Meursault when he asks him about his “liaison” with Marie right after his mother’s death. Though Meursault’s relationship with Marie and his lack of emotions at his mother’s funeral may seem unrelated to his murder, the prosecutor still manages to convince the crowd that they are connected to one another. The jury ends up convicting Meursault not because he killed a man, but because he didn't show the proper emotions after his mother ...