The Antichrist in The Stranger“Meursault is punished, not for his crime of killing another human being, but for refusing to play the game.” This statement is of great relevance to the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus. Society as a whole imposes its ideas and values ​​on all individuals, but particularly on those who differ from the “norm”. Through Meursault's worldview, contrasted with that of the religious and judicial system, this notion is brought to the fore. Meursault's view of death and dying is very different from that of the majority of people of the time. He was impassive and indifferent to his mother's death, something unfathomable and in no way acceptable. “…I didn’t know if I could smoke in front of my mother. I thought about it and decided it didn't really matter. This is a classic thought for Meursault, he believes that when one is dead, then one is truly dead, so smoking or not smoking will make no difference to the deceased. “I probably loved my mother a lot, my mother, but that didn’t mean anything.” He accepts that his mother is dead and his love means nothing to her, in fact, nothing means anything to her. These ideas were deplorable by the standards of his society and its Eurocentric value system. “He said I didn’t want to see my mother; that I had smoked, slept and drank white coffee. And I felt something stirring the whole room; for the first time I realized I was guilty. This quote is a key aspect of the fundamental philosophy of the novel. Meursault realizes, at this moment, that he is being tried for killing a man, but he will be found guilty of the charge not for killing a human being but for the simple reason that he did not not played...... middle of paper ... hearts when I knew nothing about the most basic human reactions. This is a quote from the Attorney General, a man who is both religious and loyal. Through the expression of his ideas and feelings, Meursault is clearly capable of emotion and human instinct, but because he does not follow the rules, he is condemned by a society that fears him for being different. Meursault refuses to believe in God, he refuses to succumb to the dominant ideology of his time, he refuses to play the game and for that he is punished. Meursault was tried for killing another human being, but he was found guilty and punished for refusing to "play the game." He didn't play by the rules and didn't try to change himself to better fit the world he lived in. As the magistrate said, and in essence, in the eyes of society, he was “Mr. Antichrist” and for that he was sentenced to death.