The Outsider - Oral Report.

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The Outsider - Oral Report

Mersault’s final and most significant revelation occurs at a point in his life where his execution is imminent. This revelation comes in the form of acceptance and understanding.

At this point in the novel, he is thinking of his mother, experiencing the natural world around him, and coming to terms with his fate and resigns to it, as he has done during all other struggles he has had to face, trivial as they may have been by comparison. But this time rather than accepting it out of indifference, he accepts it by becoming a part of it.

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Whilst awaiting his execution, Meursault “for the first time in a very long time” thinks of his mother. Here, he comes to understand that “no one at all had any right to cry over her”, because she died at a point where she was ready to live her life again – and Meursault feels the same. Rather than feeling unmoved by his mother’s death and indeed her existence, he empathises and finds salvation in being able to relate his final days with hers. This shows how he has moved from being an outsider to feeling connected to his place ...

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