Does Mersault really deserve death?
Meursault was handed a death sentence after his conviction. But we must ask, does Mersault really deserve a death sentence? In class, we have looked at the court's view on the Arab. They weren't significant in convicting Meursault. They were simply a side piece that was there, they weren't named. The court was more focused on his mentality rather than the crime he committed. Even then, he would be serving a sentence for 2nd-degree murder which is just usually a time in prison. Meursault in his testimony would no way be worse than a hard-core criminal that needs to be completely eradicated from society. His testimony was honest which also should have been accounted in court. He didn't try to weasel out of a sentence in court. Meursault does claim that the sun was influencing him to commit the murder. And it has been shown throughout the book that the sun influences his emotion (i.e making him angry, happy, or commit murder). If the court wants to judge him based on his mentality. He should have been submitted to a mental institution instead of death. France definitely has mental asylum by the time the stranger took place because the first asylum was established in France in 1645.
I definitely believe Meursault deserved to be heavily punished because he killed someone. The lack of Arab point of view in the trial was because of the the colonial courts disregard for them. I think deciding that Meursault has a mental issue is a way to see Meursault because the idea of someone that heartless is really hard to fathom.
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