Whether or not Mersault is a martyr depends on perspective. In his own eyes Mersault is a martyr for the truth. His passion for the exact truth was the reason for his execution. Initially it appeared that he was just accepting of whatever life brought his way, but by the final chapter he experiences a rapture where he becomes, "sure of myself, sure of everything, surer than he was, sure of my life and sure of the death that was coming to me."(Camus 115) In society's eyes he was not a martyr, but a cold-blooded murderer. Legally Mersault was correct when he did not see any relevance between his feelings on his mother's death and the facts of the shooting. Camus is trying to show the ironic fact that society often claims to prefer the truth but in fact, the truth makes them uncomfortable and frightened. For example: in the novel, Meursault's lawyer asks Meursault not to tell the court, " that to a certain extent all normal people sometimes wished their loved ones were dead."(Camus,
Christ before Pontius Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1...
Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate prese...
Image taken from page 173 of 'The Story of Charles...65) People would have preferred to hear the lie that he was sorrowful and he had, "controlled his natural feelings that day." (Camus, 65)
In accepting responsibility for his actions Mersault also shows true courage. He believes his case is quite simple and does not fight against what is done to him. He had no reason that was justifiable for shooting the Arab, which he does not deny, in fact he states it was, "because of the sun." (Camus,99)
He accepts the lawyer who is appointed to him and answers all questions honestly. He understands that his lawyer feels uncomfortable around him, and although he wants to be friends so that he will defend him better he decides it is pointless and accepts his...