In
the book the Stranger, one of the most pivotal points is when Meursault shoots
the Arab. This is the main event causing Meursault's imprisonment and
execution. It is also one of the moments that defines what kind of person
Meursault is. If this event had not occurred in the book it would be a lot less
exciting book, and we would not have understood Meursault as well because we
probably never seen how he reacts in a crisis. For a human, in a crisis it is
barely possible if not impossible to not show any emotion. You could become panicked, concentrated, tense,
or any of a long list of emotions, but Meursault remains emotionless and
comments on how warm it is. This was
probably the second closest Meursault came to showing emotion in the book, the
other time was before his execution when he finally found meaning in something
which was his own death.
If Meursault had not shot the Arab I
think there could have been two different outcomes. One could have been a very
short end to the book with the Arab stabbing Meursault and with him dying. The
other outcome could have been Meursault escapes with none or minor injuries and
eventually marrying Marie and continuing his life as it had been before his
conflict with the Arabs. If Meursault after confronting the Arab had died the
meaning to the story would have been similar in a way to how the story ended with
the original outcome of the confrontation. If Meursault had been killed by the
Arab it could have been interpreted to support Camus’s theory of absurdism. To
most people Meursault’s life would have seemed to have no meaning if he died
that early in the book. He never seemed to care about anything and no one
seemed to care about him except a handful of people who seemed to care about
him more as a tool than a friend, but if you looked deeper into Meursault’s
personality even at that point in the story you could still find some meaning
in Meursault’s life. The other possible outcome of if Meursault had not shot
the Arab is a lot harder to predict because Camus could have come up with any
number of possible outcomes and morals of the story but they probably would
have all would have had something to do with absurdism, and Meursault finally
finding meaning in something.
