Monthly Blog AP English 8 "Unique Strangers and Judgement"

            Are we all alike? Even remotely? In a way, yes. Even though we share similar qualities and habits, we all are extremely different. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day is lived differently between us all. Every thought, sight, smell, sound, touch is differently interpreted by each one of us. So tell me, why do we judge people so often for being different? Why do we fear and attack things that we don't understand?

            People have a deep true self, and we will never understand them entirely, no matter how hard we try. We will never know anyone better than ourselves. So when someone is judged for their beliefs or activities, when they are doing nothing necessarily wrong, try to hold that judgment and prejudice back. You don't know what they have been through, the wrongs that they have faced, the way they grew up, laughed, smiled, or cried. Let people be themselves, and appreciate the fact that they take pride or at least try to with how they choose to live.

            In the book The Stranger, the main character Meursault is seen as a....well...stranger. He is viewed as a strange man, rejected by society from his thoughts and choices. He seems indifferent about everything possible, not putting much thought into anything. People around him see him as some sort of monster from knowing such details as his reaction to his mother's death and Arab's murder. Due to a past, that we have barely any information on, he thinks in a much different way than the majority of society. He is more of a realist, sort of a downer, but a realist. Society's choice to reject him is pretty harsh, due to the fact that he didn't do much of anything wrong. Sure he killed an Arab, but the Arab did cut up Raymond. It is also human nature to harm, it might be dark, but it is true. Main point is, we can't judge him if we don't know his past.

            This is a huge problem in modern society, judgment. We tend to make fun of and reject people based on first glances and rumors. We need to accept the fact that everyone has a deep personality and past, that made them who they are today. There should be no reason to treat others badly because we don't understand.