How we cite our quotes:
Quote #40
As if that blind rage has washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, I that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much life myself – so like a brother, really – I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate. (2.5.26)
With these, the closing lines to the book, Meursault finally accepts the absurdist tenets that the world is indifferent to human affairs and that life itself lacks rationality and meaning. His journey has been one of enlightenment, from passive contentment to a new absurdist understanding of the world. Interestingly enough, Meursault views his execution as an affirmation of his newly acquired philosophy. He looks forward to leaving behind and triumphing above society and its worries. We guess this is kind of uplifting?