Patrick O'Neill
I don’t think this book has aged well and i don’t get the hype around it. I understand the absurd aspect of focusing on his behavior and what it says about societal expectations, but the fact is he did kill a man unprovoked and should go to jail. The man is never given a name, and it’s almost suggested if he had acted how society thought he should act he would have gotten off for killing the Arab. Also, his friend never faced any consequences for beating his girlfriend. Mersault says that nothing has meaning because we are all going to die, but his actions did have consequences because the Arab could still be alive and so could Mersault if he had acted differently. The book just seemed out of touch with today’s reality.
I don’t think this book has aged well and i don’t get the hype around it. I understand the absurd aspect of focusing on his behavior and what it says about societal expectations, but the fact is he did kill a man unprovoked and should go to jail. The man is never given a name, and it’s almost suggested if he had acted how society thought he should act he would have gotten off for killing the Arab. Also, his friend never faced any consequences for beating his girlfriend. Mersault says that nothing has meaning because we are all going to die, but his actions did have consequences because the Arab could still be alive and so could Mersault if he had acted differently. The book just seemed out of touch with today’s reality.