The Stranger#3

Meursault, as a result of his crime, becomes forced into a situation where society's most obscure and complex constructions strips him of his ability to express some of the most fundamental beliefs of existentialism. First he is restrained physically, losing the freedom to choose what he does, and when he does it, but he does not truely lose his freedom until he is put on trial. In court, surrounded by processes and procedures, he loses the ability to express himself at all. With the main points of the trial being established by others, the facts being decided by witnesses, and his defense being provided by lawyers, he as almost no role in the case. Meursault even says "In a way, they seemed to be arguing the case as if it had nothing to do with me" (Camus 98). With this inability to influence the events around him, he is forced to realize the final concept of his philosophy. He recognizes the "benign indifference" of the universe.