The Stranger #3

I think that the punishment the protagonist received was very extreme and unfitting of his crime. However, he did not do much to help his case. There were many points where he could have interjected and saved his fate. Yet, lying is not in his character, he was unwilling to stretch the truth even a little to help his case. The prosecutor is able to completely spin the protagonist's story to paint him as a cruel and heartless villain. The prosecutor disassociates himself with the protagonist's fate and just focused on winning the case rather than delving into what actually happened. The protagonist ends the novel with an insight into his thoughts and feelings on life with fervent emotion. He grabs the Chaplain and yells: "I started yelling at the top of my lungs and I insulted him and told him not to waste his prayers on me.... I was pouring out on him everything that was in my heart, cries of anger and cries of joy. He seemed so certain about everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainties was worth one hair of a woman's head. He wasn't even sure he was alive, because he was living like a deadman... but I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be" (Camus 120). The protagonist shows more emotion than he has in these few lines than he did in the entire novel. He brings up the point of certainty and how religion is just merely based on faith. He criticizes the chaplain saying that he couldn't possibly be certain about anything. But the protagonist will have one thing when he dies and that is certainty, he is certain that his life will come to an end and that is all he has.