P1+How+has+shooting+the+Arab+brought+Meursault+closer+to+becoming+an+Existentialist?

6. Shooting the arabs brought him closer to being an existentialist because after shooting the arabs, the absurdity came into play which plays a huge role in existentialism and becoming an existentialist. "The trigger gave; I felt the smooth underside of the butt; and there, in that noise, sharp and deafening at the same time, is where it all started" (Camus 59). This quote is the turning point in which absurdity came into play. Absurdity is the realization or the awakening that life is meaningless or the thought that life has no meaning. I say this because the choice to shoot and kill the arab was a simple one for marsault so obviously he thought life has no meaning. Absurdity plays a huge role in existentialism and this quote is where he took that step closer to becoming in existentialist. "Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness" (Camus 59). This quote also proves that by shooting the arabs he became closer to existentialism because its saying that by killing the arab, consequencses follow, so his existentialist mind really starts to think like an existentialist because apart of being an existentialist he feels anxiety or despair, as he did in that quote.

-Nathan Nash

6. Shooting the Arab brought Meursault closer to being an Existentialist because he started to become aware of his own life and what he does can have consequences. “I knew that I shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was life knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness”(Camus57). He realized after he shot the Arab that he had done something because he decided to and therefore took control of his life. Shooting the Arab was sort of an awakening for him. He had awakened to the realities of the world. What he had done caused him unhappiness. That unhappiness changed him and his view of the world. From then on he started seeing things with a different eye and saw more and more things as absurd. - Erica Harris

6. When Meursault shoots the Arab he starts to realize things about his life that bring him closer to being an existentialist. He starts to show emotion in his life and he starts to find out that the things he chooses to do can have negative consequence. When he shoots the Arab he says "Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness" (Camus 59). This shows that he is starting to realize his emotion. He also starts to find freedom as a person because he has released his tension and revealed emotion. Now that he has freed himself he can start to give meaning to his life. This experience changed his life and helped him become an existentialist. - Joseph Vanicek

Reply To Joseph Vanicek This is almost exactly what I was thinking when I created the question. Shooting the Arab really brought out some emotion from Meursault that was never seen prior to the incident. Second, is this sense of freedom that is brought out. Meursault was trapped in a routine life. Each shot liberated Meursault from his essence and brought him into existence. It is ironic that Meursault finds existence by ending the existence of another. He could have shot the guy and then booked it, but instead he, "fired four more times at the motionless body..." (Camus 59). Meursault seems like he has no drive in life, but something had to make him shoot the body another four times. -Jordan Schlueter