The Stranger

Why is the following quote from Part 2, Chapter 5 important?

“I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still. For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with cries of hate.”

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I'm pretty sure that these are the last lines of the novel. The chaplain has insisted that Meursault turn to God. Meursault refuses to think that the universe has any kind of divine order to it. On the contrary, Meursault thinks the universe is absurd and indifferent to his or anybody else's suffering. Meursault actually feels a sense of brotherhood with the chaos of the universe and is happy to face his accusers as part of the absurdity of life. Meursault seems to finally come to terms with his existential angst.

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