The Stranger: The Ending

The ending is dense and hard to understand even though not much happens. It's one of the most abstract sections in the novel. The priest says that Mersault is carrying a "burden." He's referring to the guilt in his soul. But that's a problem if you don't believe in a soul or heaven or God. In many ways, Meursault is being executed for not crying at his mother's funeral and also for not believing in God. In fact, this is a moment where he describes why he didn't cry at his mother's funeral, b/c it wasn't tragic. She had been happy in her last years, she had been in love, she had prepared for her death by starting over. It seems that Meursault is also trying to start over at the end and the way he imagines it is by reaching the fulfillment of his destiny, to be screamed at by the people who are putting him to death. He is "guilty" and so consequently he must be hated.