Stranger Journal #5

Camus splits his novel into to parts to not show a change in Meursault but a change in his situation. The first part of the novel shows that he sees life as meaningless and the reader would almost agree with him due to the boring nature of his activities. Part two bears a sharp contrast in that with the murder of the Arab on the beach his situation is completely changed. Meursault does not seem to be much affected by this rapid change in circumstances, he seems to go on with the same careless attitude even with the seriousness of the crime he has committed. Even when he is finally put on trial he behave like a sleepy student in a boring classroom, barley listening to battle for his life that rages on. His final show of his unchanged attitude is his response when the judge tells him that he will be executed for his crime, "the presiding judge asked me if I had anything to say. I thought about it. I said, 'no'" (Camus 107). His relatively calm reaction to the verdict shows that his has not changed his attitude toward life.