The Stranger Part 2 Question

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When Meursault sees himself in jail, it serves as a wake-up call to his meaningless, much the same way people who use drugs look at the mirror and realize their barbarity. This is because when the person looks at himself or herself, the person sees what he or she has be-come and reacts against it. After being jailed, Meursault lives a life normal to what he had been before. However, when he sees himself in the mirror and attempts to smile but can-not, it shows that his life has really changed into meaninglessness. When he was free, Meursault had the ability to smile but didn’t choose to; when he is in jail, he simply cannot. Meursault’s attempt to smile shows his misunderstanding of happiness; he tries to be happy without meaning and thus cannot be. In Meursault’s attempt to find meaning, he sees Marie as his reasoning, but since he is condemned, he will never be able to be with her. Meursault’s desperation at not being able to smile is intensified because it comes right be-fore he is to be executed. However, Meursault’s inability to smile shows the existentialism of life; in the end, it doesn’t matter whether a person smiles or not since everyone dies eventually. Meursault does not look in the mirror before because he knows that he looks the same all the time; he represents the first stage of existentialism where one does the same thing every day and increases their meaninglessness. However, when Meursault sees himself in the mirror in the jail, he reaches the low point in his angst where he truly sees the meaninglessness of life. Because of this, he enjoys his last few days alive watching the weather, what he truly likes.