Analyzing the Fairness of Meursault's Trial in The Stranger

This essay critically examines the fairness of Meursault's trial in Albert Camus' "The Stranger." The author argues that the trial was fundamentally unfair, highlighting how Meursault was punished more for his perceived indifference and unconventional behavior, particularly his lack of grief at his mother's funeral, than for the actual crime of murder. The essay draws on various analyses and critical perspectives, including those of Masur, Jeffrey, William, Mary, and Basma, to support the claim that the legal system was more concerned with Meursault's emotional detachment than with delivering true justice. It explores how the trial was used to prove a pre-conceived notion about Meursault's character, exposing the flaws and absurdities within the justice system, and ultimately concluding that the trial was a flawed process that failed to consider the specific circumstances and psychological state of the accused.

Running head: ENGLISH
The Stranger – Albert Camus
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Did Meursault receive a fair trial?
“I had only a little time left and I didn’t want to waste it on God”. The above line is
taken from the text The Stranger by Albert Camus where he points out at the futility of life as the
trial that he faces after murdering the Arab. Whether Meursault’s trial was fair or not is a
controversial question. The purpose of this writing is to seek this particular answer in the lens of
various analysis, and intending to reach a conclusion which is vague. The aim of the essay
however, is to discuss how Meursault’s trail was unfair because his verdict largely depended on
his behavior and indifference at his mother’s funeral. People seek justice through a fair trial.
However, the demarcation between good and bad gets completely disarrayed when it is
perceived from another vantage point. The act of killing the Arab by Meursault is a gruesome act
for which he needs to be punished. But he was not punished for committing the murder. Rather
the court punished him for his indifference towards his mother’s death, sleeping with his
girlfriend, and refusing to seek the mercy of God. The trial primarily showed the
meaninglessness of the legal system to deliver a fair justice for Meursault. According to Masur
(2017) Camus subtle satire lies in indicating the “similitude of what Meursault expects and what
he receives”. He expects a death sentence but incidentally gets a death sentence by execution. In
this context the whole procedure of trial involving “witness, interrogation, considerable delay in
the pronouncement of the verdic and frequent visit to the court, strikes a clear note of farce.”
However, as Masur stated these farcical exercise id indulged in to create the “appearance of fair
and uncorrupted trail.” Jeffrey (2016) too states that Meursault’s trail seems to have begun on a
“pre-concluded notion about his nature held to be the reason behind his crime.” The prolonged
trial is just an effort to prove this point. William (2017) also points out that Camus “exposes the
fallacies and the faulty system of working that law is grounded on.” Punishment for crime does

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not take into account the specific particular of each case, nor does it delve into the “exact
psychological state of the criminal at the moment of committing the crime.” Furthermore, Mary
(2019) too states that the “entire trial process is motivated at proving that Meursault is an
unemotional creature and therefore an inhuman.” Camus contradicts the unquestioningly
accepted view that emotions alone make an individual human. He also exposes the colossal
absurdity of isolating those specific responses in Meursault’s life that could prove him to be
emotionally vacuous person. Lastly Basma (2018) states that Camus wanted to portray the justice
and trial as it was-“flawed.” The magistrate is successful in making a “rational connection
regarding the trial of Meursault and the future trial of parricide that are not connected at all.
Meursault is forced by the trial procedure to “confront the existence of himself consciously as he
is gradually held responsible for everything.” All the above arguments show how Meursault’s
trail was unfair and a flawed one.

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References
Bishay, Basma. "Rebellion and the Absurd: Reading the novels of Albert Camus." (2018).
DONOHUE, WILLIAM J. "A Stranger in Your Own Language: The Marginalization of
Meursault and Composition Students." Us and Them (2017): 107.
Isaac, Jeffrey C. "Camus on Trial." Dissent 63.1 (2016): 145-150.
Masur, Jonathan. "Premeditation and Responsibility in The Stranger." Fatal Fictions: Crime and
Investigation in Law and Literature (2017): 212.
Poteau-Tralie, Mary. "Fictionalizing Fiction through the Metaphor of (De) Construction in
Kamel Daoud's Meursault, contre-enquete." Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First
Century Literature 43.2 (2019).