The Stranger and the Realization of the Sublime - Stevie Hardwich

     The Stranger by Albert Camus was written in 1942. It follows a man who seemingly has no emotions, though it can also be read as a man in a great amount of shock and grief from his mother's death. It begins with him explaining that his mother is dead, and he doesn't seem to care much at all. Later, he meets a girl and they begin a strange relationship. She loves him, but he doesn't care if she's there or not. One of his friends, a fairly immoral person, gets in trouble with a group of guys after he beat his ex-girlfriend, one of the guys' sister. Eventually, the protagonist, Meursault, shoots one of the men. He is imprisoned and questioned. He is aloof during the questioning, and this is what really causes his harsh punishment, as his lawyer originally tells him his sentence should be light. However, after his interrogation during which he showed no remorse, he is sentenced to a public decapitation. 

    This sentence begins the downward spiral Meursault drags himself in. He begins to try to figure out ways to escape or delay the execution, showing more interest than he has throughout the entire book only when his own life is threatened. He refuses to visit the prison preacher, but the preacher visits him himself. He tries to get Meursualt to save himself by becoming a Christian, but he tells Meursault that even if he is freed his guilt will not fade and his relationship with God will need to be fixed. This throws Meursault into a fit of rage, the most emotion he has ever shown throughout the entire book. He yells at the preacher and tells him that nothing matters. When the preacher leaves, Meursault begins to wonder how his mother felt when she lived among people dying, and how she felt in death. He feels that he has always been happy, and still is, and that his mother felt the same way in her own death. 

    The sublime can be seen near the end of the book when Meursault and the preacher begin to speak. The horror of the situation begins to dawn on Meursault and he has a complete breakdown. I don't think this horror goes away completely, but he is able to find beauty in what he normally wouldn't. He is even able to say that he is happy.