When someone of faith cries "Thank God!" or "Praise the Lord!", usually that moment is one of extreme joy and thanksgiving for a positive turn of events. However, when the world goes downhill for people, the reaction can become completely opposite. Not only to people curse the name of God for their fate, some even denouce the existance of a God at all. Camus's character, Meursault, is an example of this human trend. After suffering through the death of his mother, Meusault kills an Arab man and is sent into prison for this crime. When in prison, a lawyer comes to him, telling him to repent by holding up a crucifix and describing how the man on that cross gave the gift of the greatest sacrifice. Meursault chooses to ignore the lawyer's plea, leaving the man frustrated with the criminal. Most of us look at this situation and accuse Meursault of being a heartless heathen that deserves his time in prison and possibly more. But in the grand scheme of things, who is to blame him for his doubt? The existance of a God may seem unclear after the endurance of a terrible event. Camus suggests that maybe we judge too harshly and too quickly on fragile subjects such as redemption. In The Stranger, Meursault's character may be Camus's idea of human nature in general: people are unable to come to terms with the idea of redemption or mercy from a greater being during a tramatizing moment in life.
