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Throughout the novel The Stranger, by Albert Camus, there were many specific references to the light, heat, and the suns glare. This theme continues throughout the entire story. The intensity of the sun and heat affect Meursault's emotions, and his extreme sensitivity has an impact on his behavior. Meursault has a great awareness of light and temperature, and in each significant setting of the story, heat and light play a major role. While the sun has been a source of pleasure to Meursault when he goes swimming and to the beach, it is also a source of confusion and agitation for him. As the glare of the sun and the heat of the day increase, his mood and the way he views life change dramatically.
His level of agitation increases and serious consequences of his actions result each time the temperature rise. In the opening of the story, the author describes the oppressive heat and sunlight that Meursault felt during his mothers funeral. The intensity of the heat affect his emotions and he reacts more to the extreme heat than he does to the death of his mother. Later in the story as the descriptions of the heat and the sun are more intense, Meursault's behavior becomes more erratic.
When he confronts the Arab, the sun gouges his eyeballs, and the cymbals of the sun clash on his skull. The blinding flash of the knife and the sweat flowing into his eyes cause him to lose his grip on reality and shoot the Arab. The extreme heat and light result in his confusion and unclear thinking. In the second section, Meursault enjoys the sunlight from his small window in his prison cell, but the oppressive heat and brilliant sunshine during his trial keeps him from focusing on his lawyers words.
Finally, during the trial, he blames the killing of the Arab on the sun. Although the people at the trial did not understand what he was saying, he is implying that the heat at both his mothers funeral and when he shot the Arab resulted in his erratic behavior and ultimately led to his conviction and execution.
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Research essay sample on Heat And Light Mothers Funeral Sun
