While reading “The Stranger” I've noticed a reoccurring trend-death. How Meursault reacts to death and his thoughts on it. If "nothing really matters" then what is the point of life/living? Meursault has no concept of life because he doesn't truly know what it means to be alive. He operates with the mentality that "nothing matters" so what is the point?

Beginning with his mother’s death I noticed that he didn't really care that she was no longer alive and it never really hit him on an emotional level. This goes back to lack of an emotional connection (detachment) he has with the people around him. He treated his mother’s death as just another day where "nothing changed".

Then I noticed the same kind of reaction when he shot the Arab man a number of times. Which raises the question- Why shoot the man 4 times if it only took one shot to kill him? Meursault felt no remorse for his actions. It didn't even occur to him that he had killed the man until later. To me this shows that he has no value for life and he thinks he is free to do whatever he wants including kill someone because to him it won't matter and it shouldn't matter because "everyone is going to die".

Meursault takes death lightly. He could care less about it, I think he feels that once someone dies, that's it. It doesn't matter. Being that I am not an existentialist and do not share the same mentality as Meursault, I tend to have the opposite reaction to death. It's a heavy subject I think for most people to talk about. Especially the loss of someone close, many don't just dismiss it like Meursault does.

While in prison Meursault rereads and article a number of times about a man who was murdered by his mother and sister. He feels like the man deserved to die because "you should never play games". This makes me feel like he is an emotionless person, which is why it was so easy for him to kill the Arab man.

It’s also kind of ironic that Meursault is sentenced to death. He doesn’t seem to mind this since his life doesn’t really matter. He doesn’t care and believes no one else will either. As if human lives were meaningless.