Crime And Punishment And The Outsider: Self Discovery

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�extraordinary man�3, but like
Meursault, his beliefs were untested. As a result, he murdered an old
pawnbroker women in order to prove himself. Meursault, as well, acted
against the social norm. For example, even though it was expected of a son,
he did not show sorrow at his mother's funeral4. He did not think this was
shallow, however, he just refused to falsely show emotion when he did not
feel any; �I realized that I'd managed to get through another Sunday, that
mother was now buried, that I was going back to work and that, after all,
nothing had changed�5. In addition, Meursault felt that �nothing really
mattered�6. He was willing to be transferred to the Paris branch of his
office, but Algiers would do for him as well; he was willing to marry Marie,
but he would have married anyone else just as easily; and he was willing to
write Raymond's letter for the simple reason that he �had no reason not to
please him�7. This honest and nonchalant way of looking at things was the
basis ...

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in university he �recalled sharply these former doubts and
perplexities of his, and it seemed to him not by chance that he remembered
them now�13. At this moment, he hurled away the coin just given to him �in
Christ's name�14. This incident symbolized Raskolnikov's initial rejection
of God, an important moment in his spiritual struggle. After Meursault
murdered the Arab, however, he remained unchanged by immorality of his
crime. He felt no regret towards his actions, in fact he �felt kind of
annoyance�15. Also, he continued to state the truth;

Then he [the magistrate] asked me if he could say that I'd
controlled my natural feelings that day. I said 'No, because
...

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