The Stranger 5

Cultural Journal:

The blown up case in The Stranger shows how the laws are different in Algiers. Meursault didn’t even have a chance to defend his position and the reporters exaggerated his case, making him look bad. The reporters did that for personal gain to make their paper more interesting. In America the newspapers are only supposed to print the facts not change them depending on how a person sees fit. There is no way to know though weather some news is really true or not because we were not there. The newspapers in America are supposed to print the facts but they may not be entirely true. The difference between America and Algiers is the openness of exaggerating the case.

Journal 5

Meursault is described as confused a lot in part two, where as in part one he is not as confused. “I was feeling a little dizzy too” (83). This shows how Meursault is realizing his fate. He doesn’t want to die but he continuously thinks about dying. That is why he is dizzy. There are also a lot of descriptions of heads in part two. “His bald little head” (85). Heat is mentioned a lot but what is different from part one is that part two talks about people sweating from the heat. “I wiped the sweat covering my face”(89). The text only talks about people’s heads sweating. Meursault also shows more emotion to the reader during the trial. He wants to “cry” and “kiss” Céleste (90)(93).

The jury is a character that appears in the second part. I describe them as one character because they are never distinguished from each other. The jury is there to judge Meursault on what he did. They represent society and they are judging Meursault. Also we see the prosecutor in the courtroom. He takes everything Meursault says and turns it evil. “For the first time in years I had this stupid urge to cry” (89-90). The prosecutor accuses Meursault for not having a soul and being a monster with out morals. “The horror I feel when I look into a man’s face and all I see is a monster” (102).

Meursault’s lawyer said, “It is true I killed a man” (103). I think the lawyer is acknowledging that he is a bad lawyer and has done a poor job with the trial. The lawyer is talking about himself when he says he killed a man. That man is Meursault.

The reporters show up in part two. They exaggerated Meursault’s case and made him look worse. This shows how people can only trust themselves because other people may lie for personal gain. “You know, we’ve blown up your case a little” (84).