Recently in the Boston marathon there were two bombings committed by two Chechnya brothers. These men are strangers in our society because they are nothing like us. Although their actions were undoubtedly awful and inexcusable, we as a society are not even trying to understand why, we just want him to suffer the maximum punishment possible. This is comparable to the events surrounding Mersault's execution in "The Stranger". Mersault did not fit into his society and was not relatable to the jurors. This caused the jury to come back with a harsher sentence than they may have if they understood him or could at least see themselves in him.
This is exactly what is happening in our society today. There is no doubt that this man needs to be punished for what he did, however before we even knew who it was, his age, his reasoning, people were already calling him a terrorist and dictating what his punishment should be. These cries of terrorism automatically distance the people from him being a person with feelings and a life. Nobody is even trying to understand why he did it or even to understand him. I think this is very wrong because he is not able to get a fair trial or really any rights at all that protect him because it is impossible for some people to empathize with him. I also feel like he was sentenced to death the minute his race was released and he wasn't American, solely because he doesn't fit in. I wish that somehow he was able to be understood because obviously he did this to get attention and wants to be understood. I wish that people would try to see his side of the story and not rush to judgment so quickly.
I really enjoyed this class this year and thank you for everything :)
