How we choose to deal with accepting our fates is a common theme. In “No Exit” by Sartre and “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, the main characters receive a severe punishment towards the end of each story. These characters go through phases where they learn to admit their mistakes and accept what they have done. The main character in “The Stranger”, Meursault, was taken into custody after killing an Arab man who lived near him. During his incarceration, Meursault must come to terms with his actions and learn to accept himself as a criminal. At one point, the prosecutor tells Meursault that he is the first man who hasn’t broken down at the sight of Christ on the cross. Meursault considers himself distanced in morals from the other people involved, grouping them together as “criminals”. Shortly after this realization that he too was a criminal he must come to terms with it and accept it. Three of the characters in “No, Exit”, Joseph Garcin, Inès Serrano, and Estelle Rigault all know that they are criminals. They all had too much pride and hesitated to tell each other what they have done in fear of being judged. They originally lied to each other about what they had done. This is a way of denial in itself, as they made an active attempt to lie to each other in order to avoid feeling quilt about their actions. They were not willing to accept what they had done in order to admit the truth to the others. At the end of “The Stranger”, Meursault still regrets his actions. He originally is uncomfortable in his cell and has trouble sleeping. Over time he changes his attitude towards the cell and become more comfortable being in it. He says that he enjoyed his days reminiscing and recalling details of his room. He would go into extreme detail, making sure not to forget a thing. Meursault changed his sleeping habits to 14-16 hours a day, with the rest of his time allocated to visits and food. He learned to accept where he