America is a country that tends to jump to conclusions. We, as Americans, judge people by their religion, ethnicity, race, etc. The Stranger reminded me of our world today. I do not think it is the best thing to do but I can’t say I don’t do it. The man murdered in The Stranger was an Arab. Even though he was not murdered because of stereotypical reasons, there are many connections to how Americans would act and what was done in the novel.
When an Arab walks into an airport, what is the reaction? The airport puts more emphasis in checking and searching them just because of their ethnicity. This was what I thought of when Raymond was very cautious and tense when the group of Arabs were nearby. The cautiousness and fear are present in both situations.
It was so easy for Meursault to kill the Arab. He was not even associated in Raymond’s and the Arab’s affairs but it was so easy to murder him. Americans do not go the extent of killing people but they can easily generalize and detest all Arabs and Muslims. Just as easy Meursault completed his task. Americans easily jump to the conclusion that they are all out to get us and kill every one of us. Even though that is the intent of some, most do not have that mind set. It’s just so easy to jump to conclusions, in The Stranger the conclusion ended in the murder.
Assumptions are part of jumping to conclusions. In The Stranger, Raymond made the assumption that the Arabs were stalking him. Even if they were, Raymond made the assumption without facts. In today’s day and age we are always making assumptions. To stick to the stereotypical assumptions; if an Arab was sitting next to you on an airplane fumbling with a cell phone the automatic assumption is they are going to bomb or hijack the plane. It’s an American’s natural reaction because of what has happened in our history.
Even though I do not believe this is the correct thing to do that is how the world is. Things that happen in our past affect how we react in the present.
