stranger albert camus essay

The Stranger

Albert camus, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Albert Camus's The Stranger . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Stranger: Introduction

The stranger: plot summary, the stranger: detailed summary & analysis, the stranger: themes, the stranger: quotes, the stranger: characters, the stranger: symbols, the stranger: theme wheel, brief biography of albert camus.

Historical Context of The Stranger

Other books related to the stranger.

Full Title: The Stranger
When Written: 1941?-1942
Where Written: France
When Published: 1942
Literary Period: Modernist
Genre: Philosophical novel
Setting: Algiers, Algeria
Climax: Meursault shoots the Arab.
Antagonist: Raymond
Point of View: First person (Meursault is the narrator.)

Extra Credit for The Stranger

An Existential Novel? Though The Stranger is often categorized as an existential novel, Camus himself rejected this label. Camus’ philosophy of Absurdism resembles Existentialism in many respects (both philosophies, for example, believe in the essential meaninglessness of life) but Camus was fiercely committed to human morality and dignity, ideas many Existentialists discarded.

Alternate Translations. The key sentence in Meursault’s final acceptance of death has been translated in several different ways, each of which shifts the line’s meaning. The edition on which this guide is based was translated by Matthew Ward and published in 1988. It translates the line: "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world." The first English edition, translated by Stuart Gilbert and published in 1946, translated this line, "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe." The second English edition, translated by Joseph Laredo and first published in 1982, translated the line, "I laid my heart open to the gentle indifference of the universe."

“The Stranger” by Albert Camus: Literary Analysis Essay

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Literary Analysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus

Literature has always been reflecting major trends in various spheres of social and political life at a certain period. Philosophical views also have an immense impact on the development of literary works which represent the core ideas of the epoch. The philosophy of existentialism emerged in Europe, sharing the ideas of individuality and freedom based on which people make decisions. Albert Camus is considered as existentialist, but he acknowledges his contributions to absurdism the basic principles of which are highlighted in his novel The Stranger .

Albert Camus is a famous author and philosopher who was born in the family of French expatriates in Algiers. He studied philosophy at the university so that after obtaining a degree he explored the concepts of existentialism in the middle of the 1930s and examined the principles of the absurdity of human existence several years later. Based on the analysis of the newly acquired philosophical ideas, Camus started to work on his first novel The Stranger .

It incorporates the ideas of absurdity which question the value and sense of human life depicted throughout the subjective experiences of the protagonist. He acts based on his prejudices and choices but realizes what he is doing and knows the value of words (Camus 100). In general, the literary works of the writer explore a search for justice, liberty, and faith in human dignity, disregarding the external factors and neglect of personal identity. Nevertheless, the philosophy of Camus states that people have enough opportunities to determine destiny by making deliberate choices but not chances determined by fate.

The themes of existentialism and absurdism are discussed in The Stranger , a novel about the man who considers the universe is pointless. Meursault, the protagonist, obviously lacks remorse when his mother dies so that his behavior is not typical during the funeral. When the caretaker invites him to the room, he drinks some coffee with milk and smokes (Camus 12). Such behavior is perceived as disrespectful and inadequate because people are usually upset when their family members pass away, while the main character remains unflappable.

Indeed, society is formed based on some ideological principles the neglection of which may lead to the disruptions and uncertainties in the system (Camus 101). Subsequently, the ideas of absurdism affect the audience because they define uncommon values associated with a differentiating behavior that expresses the inner self of the person rather than masks one’s true feelings and motivation for actions. In this case, the existentialism dogma questions the freedom of choice and juxtaposition of subjective and objective values.

The inner struggle between personal values and external expectations are clearly illustrated in the actions and thoughts of the protagonist. Camus admits that human beings form themselves based on their values and freedom of choice. Thus, Mersault takes his chance to fight with Arab and shoot him five times (Camus 59). This case proves that he is a man of a free will that is essential to support one’s human dignity.

Throughout the novel, the protagonist often refers to the power of the sun as the agent that usually provokes Meursault to lose temper and commit some unreasonable actions. Even during the examination when he is asked about the pause between the first and the second shot, the protagonist only reminds of the power of the burning sun on his forehead but could not explain anything (Camus 67).

The life of the main character is the sequence of random and impulsive choices that form his individuality. His values and preferences contradict the external social environment and identify him as a man with no remorse, lack of emotions, and moral premises. The concept of the stranger in the novel symbolizes an enemy of society who ignores fundamental rules (Camus 102). It means that the value of the freedom of choice and action is undermined by justice, ideologies, and moral principles that regulate social order.

Apart from the inability of the individual to resist the power of social regulations, and understanding of the role of religion constitutes another problem of existentialism discussed in The Stranger . The protagonist of this novel breaks the rules, declines the power of religion, questions the sense of life, but his mother said that happiness can be found in any aspect of life (Camus 113). Meursault is happy even before his death which makes him a respected hero of the existentialist philosophy.

Furthermore, he does not change his principles before execution so that during the last chaplain’s visit the protagonist confidently affirms that he still envisions no sense in religion (Camus 117). Despite rejecting the existence of God, Camus acknowledges that a world with no religion will be full of chaos so that everything would be uncontrolled due to no restrictions or moral regulations.

Overall, the themes of existentialism covered in The Stranger affect the audience by the irrationality of life and the inconsistency of the moral principles. The writer’s philosophy implies that people have enough freedom to determine their destiny by making deliberate choices. These actions form a particular individual through the evolvement of personal values that sometimes contradict social regulations and moral principles. Thus, the protagonist neglects the truth of religion, rebels against the rules, and lives an irrational life but declares himself happy, which makes him a respected existentialist hero.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Stranger . Translated by Matthew Ward, Vintage, 1989.

Reflective Entry: “The stranger” by Albert Camus
Albert Camus “The Myth of Sisyphus” and “The Stranger”: Meursault’s and Sisyphus’ Happiness
The Novel The Outsider Camus: Character Analysis
The Power of Images in "Sleeping Beauty"
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1. IvyPanda . ""The Stranger" by Albert Camus: Literary Analysis." December 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-stranger-by-albert-camus-literary-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""The Stranger" by Albert Camus: Literary Analysis." December 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-stranger-by-albert-camus-literary-analysis/.

The Stranger

By albert camus.

Published in 1942, The Stranger is Camus' most enduring literary achievement. It has baffled and troubled readers of all ages for decades as they try to contend with Meursault's approach to life, emotions, and consequences.

About the Book

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Stranger by Albert Camus is regarded as one of the finest examples of absurdist fiction ever written. Camus was one of the pioneers of this form of philosophy and used it as the guiding principle in the conception and creation of The Stranger. This novel is certainly his best-known work of fiction. The story follows Meursault, an unusual man living in Algiers who floats from one part of his life to the next without conviction or too much emotion. Meursault, like Camus, believes in the meaninglessness of life . This means that when presented with a choice, Meursault simply acts without worrying about the consequences or how that action might be perceived.

Key Facts about The Stranger

Title: The Stranger
When/where written : 1941-1942
Published: France
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Absurdist, philosophical
Point-of-View: First-person
Setting: Algiers, Algeria
Climax: The murder of the Arab on the beach.
Antagonist: Raymond, Meursault himself, the nature of life.

Albert Camus and The Stranger

Today, Albert Camus (along with Soren Kierkegaard) is regarded as a leader of the existentialist movement . Specifically, absurdism; that is, the belief that life is essentially meaningless despite the human desire for it not to be. Camus believed that human beings have three different ways that they might confront that meaninglessness. The first of these is to commit suicide or “escape existence.” It’s an option, neither Camus nor Kierkegaard believed was the right one. Second, one might turn to religion or spirituality to find a meaning that doesn’t really exist. One takes a “leap” into the unprovable in this scenario. Lastly, there is acceptance. One must acknowledge the absurd but continue to live. Camus believed that this last option was the best. It is only through accepting the absurd that one can experience their own freedom. (Kierkegaard vehemently disagreed.) While absurdism might seem at first only tangential to The Stranger it is in fact at the heart of the story. Meursault is a “stranger” to society . He doesn’t believe that life has meaning nor does he seek to create through relationships.

The Stranger by Albert Camus Digital Art

Books Related to The Stranger

Directly related to The Stranger is Camus’ best-known philosophical essay, The Myth of Sisyphus. It was published the same year as The Stranger was finished and outlines his beliefs about absurdism and the nature of life. The essay is regarded as one of Camus’ finest works and often ranks alongside The Stranger on lists of his most important literary achievements. Although Camus is best-known for absurdism, there are other writers who also engaged with this philosophical idea. For example, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in which Kafka presents an absurd scenario without explanation or reason–because there isn’t one. Kafka’s The Castle and The Trail are also good examples.

The Lasting Impact of The Stranger

The Stranger is Camus’ most enduring novel . Meursault’s story has confused and haunted readers of all ages, around the world for the eighty years since it was published. The book’s opening line, “Mother died, today” is instantly recognizable as is its closing line: “I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world”. Camus saw Meursault as someone who refused to play by the rules of society. He knows that there is no point to life, despite how others try to convince him, and he pays the price for it.

The novel is regarded as a classic due to the continued challenge of reading about Meursault’s life and trying to understand him as a person. It raises questions that are often uncomfortable to ask and even more so to answer. Most importantly perhaps, it forces readers to reassess the value they place on their interactions and choices .

The Stranger Review ⭐

‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus tells the story of an exceedingly average man living what appears to be a mundane life.

The Stranger Quotes 💬

‘The Stranger’ contains some thought-provoking quotes, looking at life decisions, religion, memory, and the indifference of the world.

The Stranger Historical Context 📖

‘The Stranger’ was Albert Camus’s first novel and an important illustration of the absurdist world view. It was published as L’Étranger in Paris in 1942.

The Stranger Character List🧍‍♂️

‘The Stranger’ operates in a world that feels exceedingly ordinary, with a range of different characters in the novel.

The Stranger Analysis 📖

‘The Stranger’ was part of a cycle of Camus’s works that focuses on alienation and the absurd.

The Stranger Summary🧍‍♂️

‘The Stranger; by Albert Camus tells the strange and baffling story of a young shipping clerk, Meursault, and the surprising ways he reacts to the world around him.

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The Stranger

Introduction of the stranger.

The Stranger was written by Albert Camus , one of the most popular stories published in 1942. It was published in French as L’ Etranger. Later it was published in England and the United States as The Outsider and The Stranger respectively. The story runs around Meursault in a first-person narrative that announces the death of his mother and highlights his relationships with different people. The book sheds light on the predicament of existentialism and absurdism that Camus has presented in most of his literary pieces.

Summary of The Stranger

The story of the novel presents a young Algerian who gets information through telegram about the sad demise of his mother. He seeks permission from his boss for two days’ leave to visit the funeral. After the boss approves curmudgeonly, he sets on to journey in a bus where for most of the time he sleeps. . When he reaches Morengo where his mother used to live in an old home, he speaks to the director and sees the body of his mother. However, he does not accept the offer of the caretaker to watch her face by opening the coffin which was sealed because he didn’t want to be a bother. After spending his entire night there, he still does not show his emotions when smoking, drinking a cup of coffee, and dozing a bit at the old home. The director, then, informs him the next morning to meet the friend of his mother, Thomas Perez whom the members of the old age home jokingly referred as her fiance, wants to attend her burial rites to which Meursault agrees.

Finally, the coffin is sent to the small village where the old lady is to be handed over to her grave. However, Perez becomes unconscious due to hot weather, all this while Meursault gets upset over the hot weather but shows no remorse about his mother’s death. After the burial rites, he realizes why his boss was so disappointed in approving him to leave since it would grant him 4 days as his mother’s funeral was on Friday. Thinking this Meursault enjoys going for a swim in a public beach where he meets his former co-worker Marie Cardona and amuses her beauty . He, then, suggests going to a comedy movie and a dinner later. This astonishes Marie that it’s the same guy that has participated in his own mother’s funeral a day ago but quickly forgets and accepts the date. . When Marie leaves him at night, he again finds himself free to kill his time. The next day he meets his friend Emmanuel and spends his time at work. Then he goes to dinner with his neighbor, Raymond Sintes, who is involved in a vendetta with his girlfriend since she has been receiving gifts from other gentlemen which arises suspicions in him that she has been cheating on him and asks Meursault to write her a letter to return, so when she comes after receiving the apology letter he wants to humiliate, spit on her face and kick her out of the house. Meursault agrees to write the letter because ‘he didn’t mind it’.

When the next day Marie visits him, he again becomes almost heartless as he does not express his love for her despite her inquiries. Meanwhile, they hear shouts from Raymond’s apartment and see the police entering. When, however, Meursault testifies on his behalf, the police leave him. The next day when Marie visits him, she inquires his intention of marrying her and at the same time his employer asks him if he’d like to go work in a different branch in Paris, to both he states that ‘he doesn’t have strong feelings but wouldn’t mind doing it if it pleases the other party’. Then one day they go to the beach with Raymond but comes across Arabs who stab Raymond. When they come to the beach again after dressing of the wounds of Raymond, Raymond hands over his pistol to Meursault to shot the Arab if he attacks. Afterward, Meursault shoots the Arab who instantly dies, while the police arrest Meursault. All this while Meursault neither denies the act of murder nor shows any regret.

When it comes to his confession, the government provides him a lawyer but the lawyer becomes disgusted due to his coldness and frigidity on account of his lack of emotions on the death of his mother. While talking to The magistrate and was asked why he shot the Arab four times after he was dead and if he believed in God. He complained that the Sun was too hot that day and he didn’t believe in the existence of God. The magistrate, then, ironically takes his atheism as the reason for his criminality and titles him as “Monsieur Antichrist.” He becomes so much alone when even Marie stops visiting him because the authorities don’t allow her anymore since they are not married. Slowly, he becomes habitual of the absence of women, cigarettes, and loneliness. As soon as he is put on trial, he becomes indifferent to it. Soon he is sentenced to be put on gallows on the evidence he is a heartless killer, for he has not wept or showed emotions even on the death of his mother.

He soon finds himself in this quandary and tries to adjust to this new situation. Although he thinks of escaping from the prison, yet without finding no successful way out. While waiting for his execution, he tries to appeal as well hoping in some way he could get out of prison. During this time prison chaplain forces him to abandon atheism and swear allegiance to Christianity even though he refuses to see the chaplain in the first place. The chaplain forcibly enters the cell and tells him that even if his appeal succeeds, he wouldn’t overcome his feelings of guilt and fix the broken relationship with God. These condescending words of the chaplain enrage Meursault and lead him to attack. After the chaplain has left the cell he finds himself to be empty of any kind of hope to escape the execution through the appeal and ponders about his dead mother who might have felt the same way when everyone was approaching her death bed and tried to comfort herself in the friendship of Mr. Thomas Perez. Meursault finally sheds any glimmer of hope, so he unwraps his mind to the “gentle indifference of the world.” His only hope is that there will be a crowd of angry spectators at his execution who will greet him “with cries of hate.”

Major Themes in The Stranger

Irrationality: The novel demonstrates the theme of irrationality through the character of Meursault who sees that there is no point in wailing over the death of his mother, making a fuss, or abandoning usual activities of life as she was to die in any case. As soon as this idea takes hold of him, he becomes a heartless murderer and is sentenced to death for killing an Arab. However, he is satisfied and happy with his condition of not accepting irrationality which is in itself is ridiculous as he goes against the accepted beliefs of the time and gets a death sentence from the court.
Meaningless: Meursault comes to know the meaninglessness of life when he finds his mother dead and himself alone to perform her funeral rites. However, instead of mourning and expressing grief, he chooses to stay indifferent, for it would not matter after all if he mourns deeply or not. Even in the case of Marie, he rathers chooses to enjoy the company than to marry her. When she asks about love, he stays indifferent and shows no emotion. In fact, his punishment, too, demonstrates his views about the meaninglessness of life over which even the religious authorities take a strict view of his atheism and support his death sentence. His acquaintances also demonstrate his proclivity toward absurdity that is also a state of meaninglessness.
Significance of Physical World: For Meursault, the physical world is too much with us without having our ability to find meanings in everything. He faces embarrassment mentally when he does not understand the meanings of anything that comes into contact with him. The departure of his mother, the love of Marie, and even shooting someone makes him acutely aware of man’s inability to understand this physicality of the world.
Miscommunication: The Stranger, through the character of Meursault, demonstrates that despite best efforts to communicate effectively, human beings fail in it. This leads to miscommunication. His supposed or real indifference to the world causes various misinterpretations of other characters such as the magistrate understands him as a cold murderer, while the chaplain thinks that he is an atheist.
Absurdity of Life: The theme of absurdity of life emerges when Meursault comes to know about the illogical life of his own. He does not see any meaning in incidents happening around him such as the death of his mother, Marie’s love or marriage proposal, or even outing and staying in the room. When he is imprisoned for killing the Arab, he thinks that it is also an absurd incident in his life. Therefore, life seems absurd to him.
Indifference to Human Passions: Meursault, the hero of The Stranger, shows indifference to human emotions during the death of his mother and later in his love life, his dealing with the Arabs, his friendship with Raymond, and his own trial in the court. This becomes a new thematic strand of the irrational story in that it shows that indifference to human emotions could lead somebody to gallows or save his life.
Difficulty in Relationships: The theme of difficulty in forming relationships becomes clear when Meursault does not show his emotions and love for Marie. He fails to respond or express to her about his love. The same goes for Raymond. This difficulty has also robbed him of his relationships including his empathy as he does not feel anything when shooting a person at point-blank range.
Passivity: Meursault demonstrates passivity when his mother dies and he feels helpless. He thinks that it is to happen in any case. His demonstration of emotion would not impact it. However, he does not show any emotional attachment toward Marie with whom he spends a lot of time in enjoyment.
Alienation: The theme of alienation is clear from the alienation of Meursault not only during his mother’s death but also during his friendship with Raymond and love with Marie. He even shows this alienation from the social fabric when in prison.

Major Characters in The Stranger

Meursault: The main character of the story, The Stranger, Meursault demonstrates Camus’ main philosophy of existentialism. The author also makes him a mouthpiece to express his ideologies. The novel starts with his arrival at the death of his mother, his participation in her last rites, his love with Marie, his friendship with Raymond, his intended murder of an Arab, and his interview with the magistrate when he is framed in the murder to be imprisoned. He shows the meaninglessness and absurdity of this life that he is condemned to live until he reaches the gallows where he finds a glimmer of hope that he would be released. However, his indifferent state demonstrated during this entire process takes his life.
Marie Cardona: Marie Cordona is another major character who is significant on account of her relation and association with Meursault, the protagonist . Although she expresses her love and goes with him to a certain limit, she stops visiting him to prison when it transpires to her that she has no relation with him. In fact, it is the prolonged indifference and cold-heartedness of Meursault that makes her abandon him.
Raymond Sintes: Raymond’s significance lies in his friendship with Meursault as he considers him a good friend who can be trusted. That is why he lies to the police when it comes to saving his neck from the long arms of the law. However, inclusion into the personal affair of his friend becomes Meursault’s involvement in the assassination of the Arab after which Raymond does not appear much in the storyline as Meursault waits for his death sentence in the prison.
Maman: Maman is Meursault’s mother. He mentions her in the very first sentence of his narrative when he says that the mother is dead. Although she does not physically appear in the novel, her funeral rites set the indifferent tone of the novel that like its protagonist moves along the story until Meursault faces a death sentence on the crime of killing an Arab.
The Chaplain: This theological character appears when Meursault is imprisoned on the murder charges. He tries to make Meursault realize that he needs to be in association with God but Meursault shows complete indifference to his teachings and passionate calling.
Thomas Perez: He is a minor character; when as a son, Meursault, does not show any passion for his dead mother, he shows his sympathy and empathy toward her and goes with her coffin to participate in her funeral rites. He is significant because of this relationship with Maman.
Céleste: Celeste’s appears when Meursault has dinner at his restaurant and both show interest in races. He also shows a similar interest in his trial.
Meursault’s Lawyer: This anonymous figure appears when Meursault is to defend his case in court. However, he finds himself in a quandary when he comes to know the total indifference of his client. He tries to offer him guidance on how to sympathize and show empathy toward others and take interest in his case, but fails. However, he stays positive and vanishes when it becomes clear that Meursault is going to gallows.
Caretaker: The significance of the caretaker of the old home lies in his importance of contacting the heirs of the old people. He contacts Meursault and informs him about the death of his mother and also arranges funeral rites.

Writing Style of The Stranger

Albert Camus wrote The Stranger in concise and specific details. Although the sentences are short and crispy without excessive adjectives , it seems that he has adapted the language to suit the personality of his character, Meursault. As most of the sentences are short and to-the-fact style , they do not spell out meanings more than the writer has intended. The diction , too, is mostly formal, the reason that it seems that the storyline conveys the intended meanings of the author to his readers. There is minimal use of literary devices other than those given below in the analysis.

Analysis of Literary Devices in The Stranger

Absurdity: The absurdity in the novel lies in that Meursault imagines himself alien, alienated, and detached from the society where life seems to him meaningless.
Action: The main action of the novel involves Meursault’s story, his mother’s death, his love with Marie, his friendship with Raymond, and his trial for murdering an Arab. The rising action occurs when he shoots the Arab and the falling action occurs when he resigned to his fate that he is going to be hanged for his crime.
Antagonist : The Stranger shows the main character Meursault as an antagonist as he keeps himself detached from the occurrences happening with him. When he commits a murder he shows coldness that costs him his life.
Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel. i. She laughed again and said, “Yes,” if I’d take her to the comedy everybody was talking about, the one with Fernandel in it. (Chapter-II) ii. It was to open a branch at Paris, so as to be able to deal with the big companies on the spot, without postal delays, and he wanted to know if I’d like a post there. (Chapter-V) iii. “Well, Mr. Antichrist, that’s all for the present!” After which I was made over to my jailers. (Part-II, Chapter-II) The first two allusions are related to Paris and Parisian life, while the latter is a biblical allusion .
Conflict : The are two types of conflicts in the novel . The first one is the external conflict that is going on between Meursault and the society around him as well as the ethical framework prevalent at that time. The second is the mental conflict that is going on in his mind about his own situation and his reaction to it.
Characters: The Stranger presents both static as well as dynamic characters. The young man, Meursault, is a dynamic character as he faces a huge challenge and goes through his self-awareness and world-view transformation. However, the rest of the characters do not see any change in their behavior and self, as they are static characters like Marie, the magistrate, Perez, or Raymond.
Climax : The climax reaches when Meursault shoots a man without any reason and is imprisoned and punished for the murder he committed.
Existentialism : Existentialism is clear from the way Meursault feels as if he is isolated in the entire world having nobody to take care of him and feels happy in this situation.
Foreshadowing : The novel shows the following examples of foreshadowing : i. MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. (Part-I, Chapter-I) ii. I was conscious only of the cymbals of the sun clashing on my skull, and, less distinctly, of the keen blade of light flashing up from the knife, scarring my eyelashes, and gouging into my eyeballs. (Book-I, Chapter-IV) iii. For the first time, perhaps, I seriously considered the possibility of my marrying her.. (Part-I, Chapter-V) These quotes from The Stranger foreshadow the coming events.
Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs in the novel at various places. For example, i. My lawyer assured me the case would take only two or three days. “From what I hear,” he added, “the court will dispatch your case as quickly as possible, as it isn’t the most important one on the Cause List. There’s a case of parricide immediately after, which will take them some time. (Part-II, Chapter-III) The above example is hyperbole , and also it shows how his indifference is leading to new allegations such as parricide which is a hyperbolic situation here.
Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, i. It was a bright, spotlessly clean room, with whitewashed walls and a big skylight. The furniture consisted of some chairs and trestles. (Part-I, Chapter-I) ii. The glare off the white walls was making my eyes smart , and I asked him if he couldn’t turn off one of the lamps. “Nothing doing,” he said. (Part-I, Chapter-I) iii. The sky had changed again; a reddish glow was spreading up beyond the housetops. As dusk set in, the street grew more crowded. People were returning from their walks, and I noticed the dapper little man with the fat wife amongst the passers-by. (Part-I, Chapter-III). The first example shows the images of color, the second again of color, and the third of color as well as movements.
Irony : The novel shows an example of irony . For example, i. He got up, saying it was high time for him to be in bed, and added that life was going to be a bit of a problem for him, under the new conditions. For the first time since I’d known him he held out his hand to me—rather shyly, I thought—and I could feel the scales on his skin. Just as he was going out of the door, he turned and, smiling a little, said:” (Part-I, Chapter-III) The irony here lies in that Meursault sees the meaninglessness of the beating of the dog by Salamano, though he himself feels this about his own life.
Metaphor : The Stranger shows the use of various metaphors . For example, i. I felt the first waves of heat lapping my back, and my dark suit made things worse. (Part-I, Chapter-I) ii. He gave me a long look with his watery blue eyes. (Part-II, Chapter-I) These two examples show the author comparing waves with a man and look at something. Besides this, the Algerian sun is the metaphor awareness of reality.
Mood : The novel shows tragic mood in the beginning but it turns out absurd and ironic by the end.
Motif : Most important motifs of the novel constant watching, death and decay.
Narrator : The novel is narrated by a third person point of view of an omniscient narrator who is also an unreliable.
Protagonist : Meursault is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with the death of his mother and moves forward toward his crime of murdering an Arab and his punishment to be condemned to death.
Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows a good use of rhetorical questions at several places. For example, i. ‘When he said that, I broke in. “Ah, you don’t come from here? (Part-I, Chapter-1) ii. ‘When are you going to marry her?’ they’d ask . He’d turn it with a laugh. It was a standing joke, in fact. (Part-I, Chapter-I) iii. So one day I say to her, ‘Look here, why not get a job for a few hours a day? (Part-I, Chapter-III) These examples show the use of rhetorical questions posed mostly by Meursault not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
Setting : The setting of the novel is Algiers after WWII.
Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes. For example, i. Then the dog began to moan in old Salamano’s room, and through the sleep-bound house the little plaintive sound rose slowly, like a flower growing out of the silence and the darkness . (Part-I, Chapter-III) ii. One could see the outline of her firm little breasts, and her sun-tanned face was like a velvety brown flower. (Part-I, Chapter-IV) iii. He was turning like a teetotum, looking in all directions, and sometimes peering into the darkness of the hall with his little bloodshot eyes. (Part-I, Chapter-IV) iv. It was like a furnace outside, with the sunlight splintering into flakes of fire on the sand and sea. (Part-I, Chapter-VI) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things.

The Stranger Characters
The Stranger Themes
The Stranger Quotes
Stranger Danger
Albert Camus

The Stranger

By albert camus.

The Stranger Summary

The famous lines introducing Meursault 's mother open the novel. He is not sure whether she had died today or yesterday since the telegram was not specific. Furthermore he does not really think it matters. He asks for two days off and takes the bus to the home he had put his mother in when he could no longer afford to take care of her. He sleeps on the way there. At the home, Meursault meets the director and the caretaker and is taken to see his mother. He chooses not to look at her and sits by her side as friends come to mourn during the night. He chats with the caretaker, naps, smokes, and has some coffee. In the morning, the funeral procession walks the hour into town for the ceremony. The sun is scorching and Meursault feels more oppressed by the heat than sad over his mother's death. Her fiancé Thomas Pérez however is in tears and must struggle to keep up by taking shortcuts. After the funeral, Meursault catches the bus home and looks forward to sleeping twelve hours.

He wakes up the next day and realizes that it is a weekend and is not surprised his boss was annoyed. He gets up late and then decides to go to the beach where he loves to swim. Once there he sees a woman he used to be attracted to at work, Marie Cardona . They are instantly attracted and agree to see a movie later that night. Marie is surprised to hear that Meursault's mother died only yesterday. That night they see a comedy and go back to Meursault's. She is gone the next morning before Meursault gets up. He remembers that he hates Sundays because they are boring so he takes a nap. Finally he gets up, makes lunch and settles on the balcony to watch people pass. Different crowds move by throughout the day including families, soccer fans, and moviegoers. He eats dinner standing up, watches some more, and then moves inside when it gets colder and darker.

A work day follows. His boss, trying to be kind, asks about his mother but is relieved when Meursault says his mother was about sixty when she died. Meursault has a great deal of work to do before lunch. On the break, he and Emmanuel jump onto a moving fire truck. Meursault eats lunch, takes a nap, and returns to work. Arriving home after work, he runs into Salamano and his dog and thinks of the routine the ridiculous pair always follow. Meursault sees Raymond next who invites him over for dinner. They talk about Raymond's fight with an Arab and then, his cheating girlfriend. He asks Meursault to write a letter to her for him to make her feel bad about what she did. Then he can punish her when she comes back to him. Meursault agrees to write the letter because he is there and Raymond seems to like it very much and says they are pals.

Meursault works hard the following week and attends the movies twice with Emmanuel. On Saturday he sees Marie and they go swimming. He admires her beauty. They frolic in the water and then hurry back to the apartment to have sex. She stays for the morning and asks if he loves her. He says no. They are interrupted by the loud fight between Raymond and his girlfriend. They go watch as Raymond is beating the woman but Meursault does not want to call the police since he does not like them. The cops break it up, slapping Raymond when he will not remove a cigarette from his mouth. Marie and Meursault make lunch but Marie no longer has much of an appetite. After Marie leaves, Raymond comes over and they agree the woman received her punishment. They go out to drink and play pool. They meet Salamano on the way back. He has lost his dog and is upset. Meursault suggests that he check the pound where he could pay a fee for the dog. Salamano is outraged at the idea of paying. He later gets the rest of the details on the pound from Meursault and then goes home. Meursault can hear him crying. He thinks of Maman and goes to bed without dinner.

Meursault receives a call from Raymond at the office which annoys. He is invited by Raymond to bring Marie to his friend's house and told that an Arab relative of Raymond's woman has been following Raymond. Soon after, Meursault's boss offers him a job where he would be transferred to Paris. Meursault admits he is happy enough where he is and the boss berates his lack of ambition. That evening he sees Marie who asks if he will marry her. Meursault says he will if she wants but still says he does not love her. Marie still wants to marry him. She is excited about the prospect of Paris but he thinks it is dirty. Meursault eats dinner alone at Céleste 's until he is joined by a jerky robot-like woman. He follows her when she leaves but loses interest. Back at the building, he finds Salamano waiting. His dog was not at the pound and he tells Meursault stories about him and the dog. He does not want another. He also mentions that he is sorry about Maman and understands why he put her in a home though many neighbors do not.

Marie has difficulty waking Meursault on the day they are to join Raymond and his friend. Once outside they see a group of Arabs, like Raymond had mentioned, across the street. They get on the bus for the beach and are not followed. The cottage belongs to Masson and his Parisian wife whom Marie befriends. Meursault is struck by the idea of getting married. Marie and Mersault enjoy swimming together. Meursault then naps on the beach before playing in the water more with Marie. He devours his lunch and then takes a walk with the other men. They run into two Arabs on the beach and Raymond and Masson fight them. Raymond gets cut and needs to be stitched. When they return, he takes off down the beach again. Meursault follows him though he wanted to be left alone. They find the Arab but Meursault convinces Raymond to give him his gun. Nothing happens and the men walk back. Meursault is affected by the sun and heat and goes back onto the beach. He finds himself near the Arab again and is drawn closer. With the heat and glare of the knife, Meursault shoots the gun once and then four more times, killing the Arab.

Part Two of the novel takes place after Meursault's arrest. He is taken to prison and held there. The magistrate gives him a lawyer although Meursault does not think it is necessary. He is taken into an interrogation room with a single lamp like in books he has read. It seems like a game but the magistrate is reasonable. His lawyer visits him the next day and is disturbed that he will not agree to say that he repressed his natural feelings on the day of Maman's funeral. Meursault considers stopping him to explain but is too lazy. The magistrate calls him again and is bothered by the part in his testimony where he hesitated before firing the last four shots. As Meursault cannot explain why, the magistrate takes out a crucifix and attempts to make Meursault repent so God will forgive him. Meursault does not follow his reasoning nor does he believe in God. Frustrating the magistrate further, Meursault says he is more annoyed than sorry about the crime he has committed. Their discussions after this time are more cordial and Meursault remembers little else he enjoyed as much as these moments between him and the magistrate.

The same eleven months spent talking to the magistrate are also lived daily in the prison. Meursault does not like to talk about this much. Marie visits him once and the visiting room is very crowded, bright, loud, and hot. Meursault finds it hard to concentrate on their conversation, picking up pieces of the mostly Arab conversations around. Marie looks beautiful and Meursault looks at her body more than he listens to her voice. Meursault is hot and dizzy. He almost leaves but wants to take advantage of Marie being there. Soon after she visits, he receives a letter from Marie saying she is not allowed to visit any longer because she is not his wife. Still this time is not so hard for Meursault. He has free man thoughts and urges for awhile, such as the desire to go swimming, but these only last for a few months. He realizes that he can get used to anything. The first months are especially hard because of his desire for women and cigarettes. Women's faces fill his room with desire but they also help to pass the time. He chews on pieces of wood to get over smoking and realizes that the only way to really punish him is by taking away these freedoms. The main problem he faces is killing time. To combat time, he catalogs every item in his apartment gaining more and more detail each time he visualizes its entirety. He learns to sleep two thirds of the day . He finds a scrap of a newspaper crime story about a tragic Czech family and reads it over every day. These items and his memory allow him to ease time. He loses a sense of all but yesterday and today. Meursault realizes that he has even begun talking aloud to himself and that his reflection refuses to smile, but he is not at all unhappy.

The year until the next summer passes quickly and it is time for Meursault's trial. At the courthouse, people cram into to see a spectacle and Meursault realizes that it is he. He feels as if he is being judged. The room is very hot and Meursault feels dizzy. The press has built up his story making the interest and crowds larger than expected. One young reporter in particular examines Meursault thoroughly and the robot woman is also seen in the audience watching intently. His examination is first and he agrees with the judge's reading of his statement. He is irritated by the questions on Maman. After a break, the prosecution's witness are called. The director and caretaker of the home testify on Meursault's lack of sympathy toward his mother at the funeral. Pérez testifies that he could neither see Meursault cry or not cry through his own tears. The defense is then called and Céleste is the first witness. He states that the murder was bad luck. Marie testifies about the day they met following Maman's burial which is turned by the prosecution into a dubious liaison too close to his mother's death. Masson states that Meursault is an honest man and Salamano pleads with the jury to understand. Raymond is the last witness and testifies that Meursault was at the beach by chance and the Arab had hated Raymond. The prosecutor says Meursault is on trial for burying Maman with a crime in his heart. Meursault leaves the courthouse and smells the summer air. He remembers the days when he was happy, noting that his path could have gone either way.

The lawyer's summations follow the next day and Meursault is interested to see what they will say about him. As both speeches are very long, Meursault finds it difficult to pay attention. The prosecutor seems to dwell on his crime being premeditated. Meursault finds the recreation of events plausible and sees how he could be thought of as Raymond's accomplice. Meursault notes how odd it is that his intelligence is used against him. The prosecutor then spends a long time on Meursault's treatment of Maman. Meursault admits to himself that the prosecutor is correct that he is not able to show remorse. The prosecutor ends by declaring that Meursault's soul is empty and that he is a monster who has paved the way for the parricide trial following. Meursault replies that he had no intention of killing the Arab. When asked why he did it, he does not know and can only blurt out that it was because of the sun. The defense lawyer's summation is not as skilled Meursault finds, especially since he does not address Maman's funeral. Meursault does not like how his lawyer replaces his name with "I" and feels further excluded from the entire process. The pointlessness of the trial depresses him and he wishes he could go sleep. Meursault is made to wait in another room as the jury decides and pronounces the verdict. He is brought in for the sentencing and hears that he is going to be decapitated in the name of the French people. He has nothing to say.

In his prison cell, Meursault denies the chaplain three times. He wishes he had paid more attention to executions so that he could think of one possibility where the criminal had escaped the inevitability of the process. He finds the absoluteness of the situation to be arrogant. He remembers Maman's story of his father going to an execution and now understands why. He wishes that he could visit all of the executions from now on. This wish is too painful though since there is such little chance of his freedom. He imagines new penal codes which would allow the condemned to have one chance in ten of escaping his fate. He realizes that his concept of the guillotine has always been skewed. The two things he thinks about most though are dawn and his appeal. Meursault knows that the executioners would come right before dawn so he waits up every night. Although he knows everyone will die, the thought of his appeal is maddening. He must convince himself of its impossibility in order to introduce to himself the chance of a pardon, which when faced rationally, gives him an hour of calm.

He thinks of Marie for the first time in a while at such a moment and the chaplain comes in. Asked why he has refused him, Meursault answers that he does not believe in God. Meursault tries to convince the chaplain that he has little time to devote to other thoughts and the chaplain's words do not interest him. The chaplain is surprised to learn that Meursault truly believes there is nothing after death. He points out that every sufferer has found the face of God in the prison stones. Meursault has looked only for Marie and not found her. The chaplain refuses to accept Meursault's behavior. Meursault snaps, yelling at him that he does wish for another life but one where he could remember the present one. He attacks the chaplain as the one who is dead inside, waiting for something after life. Meursault realizes that he has been right all along. He had lived his life one way but it did not matter and no one's life, death, or love made a difference to him. Every life is worth the same and all are privileged.. The guards tear the chaplain away and Meursault falls asleep. When he wakes, it is night. The sirens blast just before dawn and Meursault thinks of Maman. He understands her need to live life all over again, explaining why she took a fiancé so close to death. No one has a right to cry over her. He opens himself to the indifference of the world and finds it to be a brother. He is happy. To feel less alone, he only hopes that a crowd of haters will welcome him at his execution.

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The Stranger Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Stranger is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What philosophy of life does Meursault espouse at the beginning of the chapter? How have you seen him live out his philosophy?

Chapter Five begins by introducing the reader to a collision of Meursault's two worlds, the world of the work week and of the weekend. Raymond calls Meursault at work and Meursault is annoyed right away.At work, he is in the mode of his...

What explanation does Sintes give for the fight he has had with an Arab man- what isn't quite honest about the order in which he tells his story? How does Meursault react to the story and to Sintes' offer of friendship?

Meursault description of their friendship alludes to the fact that it is pretty one sided. Raymond confides quite a bit of information, calls Meursault at work, and extends weekend invitations.... Meursault is unfazed, he cannot connect.

What do the following quotes by Albert Camus mean to you?

Experience is intrinsic to learning. One must live it in order to understand.

Study Guide for The Stranger

The Stranger study guide contains a biography of Albert Camus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Stranger
Character List
Part One, Chapters 1-3 Summary and Analysis
Related Links

Essays for The Stranger

The Stranger literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Stranger.

Nonconformity: Condemnation
Irony Of The Stranger
The Stranger: Existential Martyrdom
The Effectiveness of Violence in The Stranger
Truth Dawning: The Sun as a Symbol for Meursault's Awareness in Albert Camus' The Stranger

Lesson Plan for The Stranger

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to The Stranger
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
The Stranger Bibliography

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Acknowledgements
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"J' ai compris que j' étais coupable" ("I understood that I was guilty"): a hermeneutical approach to sexism, racism, and colonialism in Albert Camus' L'éstranger/The stranger / George Heffernan
Meursault: mad bad messiah? / Simon Lea
Dualisms in Albert Camus's The stranger / Peter Francev
Rien, rien n' avait d' importance et je savais bien pourquoi ("Nothing, nothing mattered, and I well knew why"): the world according to Meursault -- or a critical attempt to understand the absurdist philopsophy of the protagonist of Alber Camus's The stranger / George Heffernan
L'estranger and the messianic myth, or Meursault unmasked / Ben O'Donohoe
"It was there that it all started" : Meursault's ascent in Albert Camus' The stranger / Ron Srigley
Of dogs and men: empathy and emotion in Camus' The stranger / Ingrid Fernandez
Meursault and the indifference of death: a logotherapeutic perspective / Peter Francev
Reading Camus in the age of absurdity: toward a constructive reading of The stranger / Brent Sleasman
A stranger of words / Svenja Schrahe
Albert Camus' poetics of strangeness in translation: a comparative analysis of text in context / Roosje Dejonghe
Meursault and moral freedom: The stranger's unique challenge to an enlightenment idea / Matthew Bowker
Don Juanism and The stranger / Jasmine Samra
Does Meursault lie? / Mary Gennuso
Camus's literary criminal and the law: loathing the outsider / Stephan Lancy.

The Stranger

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Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Many of the novel’s scenes take place in or near the ocean. What is the symbolic significance of this setting?

What is the symbolic meaning of the sea in this story? ( topic sentence )
What events in the story take place in or near the water? What do these events have in common? What details and language support your ideas about what these events have in common?
Finally, discuss in your concluding sentence or sentences how the symbolic significance of the ocean supports the novel’s overall meaning.

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2. In well-constructed literature, violence is not included for entertainment value; instead, it is included to support meaning. Choose one of the violent incidents in The Stranger and explain how it supports the novel’s meaning.

Besides its literal meaning in the plot, what larger meaning does the incident have? What else does the violent incident show is true about life? ( topic sentence )

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“The Stranger” by Albert Camus

The Stranger by Albert Camus is regarded as one of the prominent works belonging to the genre of Absurdism. Camus’ “The Stranger” was published in the dark days of the World War II, during the Existentialist movement, along with the essay collection “The Myth of Sisyphus”. Meursault is the protagonist of Camus’ “The Stranger”, (Camus) who conveys Camus’ ideas of independence, freedom and life. Meursault is a representative of absurdists who believes that the world was meaningless, absurd, and indifferent. This novel unravels the story of Meursault, who is emotionally detached to his surrounding living beings. He is an anti-hero, who is accused of murder of an Arab and is prosecuted for his failure to show proper feelings for his deceased mother.

Camus has given two different and contrasting personas for Meursault, in the two parts of the text. In the beginning of the novel, we find Meursault who is indifferent and detached from his relationships and society, where as in the second part we see a changed Meursault and an intellectual Meursault. Meursault, in the first part, is a mere commentator of the incidents that goes around him. But, in the second part, he tries to delve deep in to the meaning, existence and value of human life. Meursault, in the first part, is depicted as a being that lack emotions and is distanced from the society. In the second part, we see the protagonist reflecting on the past incidents of his life and being frightened on the thought of the executioner and the blade. The separation of the book in to two parts, therefore, becomes significant as it bridges the evolution of the character of Meursault.

Towards the Part II of the novel, not only Meursault is different, he also perceives distinct ideas on natural phenomenon like death. We find the novel beginning with the theme of death, which is also one of the prominent themes of the novel. We see death in various forms throughout the novel whether it is the announcement of death in the beginning of the novel, or Salamano’s old dog in a decaying state, the murder of the Arab or the execution of the protagonist. The universal phenomenon of Death, as a central theme in any absurdist novel, is a tool to acknowledge the various attitudes of individuals. We see the opening of the novel with the commentary of the detached protagonist, “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know. I had a telegram from home: ‘mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely.’ That doesn’t mean anything. It may have been yesterday” (Camus para. 1). Death in “Stranger” is presented as an inevitable mystery that makes all the living creatures equal. No one can survive death and hence no being is privileged than the other. In the beginning of the novel, if we see Meursault is indifferent to death and is unaffected by it, then in the beginning of the second part, we see him frightened by the thought of getting beheaded by the executioner. But in the end of the novel, we can see that the thought process of Meursault has so developed and morphed to the present situation that he accepts death. “I wasn’t unaware of the fact that it doesn’t matter very much whether you die at thirty or at seventy since, in case, other men and women will naturally go on living, for thousands of years even. Nothing was plainer, in fact. It was still only me who was dying, whether it was now or in twenty years’ time. At that point the thing that would rather upset my reasoning was that I’d feel my heart give this terrifying leap at the thought of having another twenty years to live” (Camus para. 4). Religion is yet another common theme in any of the absurdist novel, which revolves around the idea that religion is merely a constitution to provide meaning to the meaningless existence in this world. It is the religion that offers the possibility of an afterlife to the believers. But according to the absurdists, believing and accepting religion is an escape from the inevitable death. By believing in an after-life people will fail to live their life to its brim. Life will become equivalent to death in such a condition, which is expressed by Meursault as “living like a dead man” with reference to the chaplain. In “Stranger”, though we do not see Meursault as condemning religion, we do see him rejecting the religious practices of men like the chaplain and the magistrate. “Nothing, nothing mattered and I knew very well why. [The minister] too knew why. From the depths of my future, throughout the whole of this absurd life I’d been leading, I’d felt a vague breath drifting towards me across all the years that were still to come, and on its way this breath had evened out everything that was then being proposed to me in the equally unreal years “I was living through…As if this great outburst of anger had purged all my ills, killed all my hopes, I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world” (Camus para. 7). The protagonist even challenges the social construct called religion even at the face of his imminent death by saying that he will not “waste his last minutes on God”.

Meursault of Camus’ “Stranger” is not only emotionally detached but also is distanced from the women. Though he admits that he likes the company women, he is not intended in keeping any relations with them. We can see that he is unaffected by the death of his mother. He ignores the suffering of Raymond’s ex-girlfriend, who is brutally beaten. Also, he does not love his girl friend, Marie, though he enjoys her company. Moreover, Meursault’s relationship with Marie clearly depicts his interest in himself and his selfish concern of achieving physical satisfaction.

Camus’ Meursault is an anti-hero who does not believe in God but is unable to lie. The irony in the novel stems out when he realizes his freedom after being imprisoned. He faces death with his joyful awareness of the impending last moments of his life and he hopes for the angry shouting of the witnessing crowd and a dramatic ending of his life.

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Amazon.com. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.selfknowledge.org/resources/bookreviews/stranger.htm>
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The Stranger Essay

The Stranger is one of the most famous novels by Albert Camus. The novel tells the story of Meursault, a man who is seemingly indifferent to the death of his mother and the trial that follows her death. The book has been praised for its exploration of freedom and death, two central themes in Camus’s philosophy. In The Stranger, Camus challenges our notions of what it means to be free and whether or not we can truly control our own destiny. The book is a powerful reminder that life is unpredictable and often meaningless, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t live it to the fullest.

The idea that individuals are free when they die is taken from The Stranger by Camus, as it is in all of his works. One dependent on the other, freedom and death are major themes in Camus’s view. For Camus, freedom springs from a sense of ones life; it is an intense magnificent existence that does not need to be redeemed or regretted. Death is unjustified and ridiculous; it simply represents a return to the cosmos for a liberated individual.

The key to this awareness is lucidity, seeing things as they are without illusions. The stranger is the character in The Stranger who most fully embodies and experiences these ideas. The novel also dramatizes the confrontation of the individual with an unjust, absurd world. The central problem of the novel is whether or not the stranger can maintain his freedom and integrity in the face of a hostile and indifferent universe. The answer to this question is ambiguous, and its ambiguity is one of the chief sources of the novels power.

In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus explores the idea that life may have no inherent meaning but that it can be lived fully in accordance with ones own values. The title refers to the ancient Greek legend of Sisyphus, a man condemned by the gods to roll a heavy rock up a hill, only to have it roll back down again each time he nears the top.

The point of the story is that Sisyphus chooses to continue his task even though it is pointless; in so doing, he affirms life and gives it meaning. The character of Meursault in The Stranger may be seen as a modern-day Sisyphus. Like Sisyphus, Meursault is an individual who feels no connection to the world around him and who experiences life as meaningless. Yet he persists in living, despite the futility of existence. In this way, he too affirms life.

In a nutshell, The Stranger is a Camusian parable about the necessity of what is necessary for freedom. Meursault, the protagonist of The Stranger, is not a person one would encounter in real life in this regard; until the novel’s conclusion, Meursault was unable to attain enlightenment and freedom from Camus philosophy.

The Stranger begins with Meursault receiving a telegram informing him of his mother death. The first act that Meursault does is to go and inform his employer, for which he is reprimanded. From the very beginning, then, we see that Meursault is indifferent to the social conventions that most people live by. This indifference toward social conventions continues when Meursault attends his mother funeral. He shows no emotion whatsoever during the funeral, which shocks and upsets everyone else in attendance.

The only thing that Meursault seems to be concerned about is whether or not the funeral will interfere with his plans for the weekend.

After the funeral, Meursault goes on vacation with a friend named Raymond. While on vacation, they meet some Arabs, and Raymond gets into a fight with one of them. The next day, Meursault goes for a walk on the beach with Raymond and the Arabs. The Arabs spot them and start following them.

Meursault and Raymond eventually lose them, but when they go back to where they are staying, they see the Arabs again. The Arabs start throwing rocks at them, and one of the rocks hits Raymond in the face. The two men then go back to town to get a gun, and they go back to the beach and kill the Arabs.

Back in court, Meursault is found guilty of murder. The prosecutor tries to get him to show some regret or emotion for what he has done, but Meursault remains indifferent. The only thing that matters to him is whether or not he will be executed. In the end, Meursault is sentenced to death, and he accepts it without any regrets.

Camus’s philosophy is based on the idea that there is no inherent meaning in life, but that we can create our own meaning by living in accordance with our own values. This is what Camus calls “the absurd” – the recognition that life is ultimately meaningless, but that we can choose to live in a way that makes our life meaningful. The goal of Camus’s philosophy is to achieve a “state of freedom” in which we are able to live authentically, according to our own values, despite the absurdity of life.

Meursault is not able to achieve this state of freedom until the end of the book, but he is still living in accordance with Camus’s philosophy even though he is not aware of it. The fact that Meursault is indifferent to social conventions and does not care about anything except his own interests shows that he is living authentically, in accordance with his own values. The fact that he is willing to accept death without any regrets shows that he has achieved a state of freedom in which he is not afraid of death or of the absurd.

An irreligious person from a nation that has never heard of Christianity is an example of his counterpart in the Christian worldview. Having it explained to him by a missionary, he understands he has never sinned, which represents the morality and characteristics needed for liberty in this case. What was Meursault’s underlying moral value? His foremost character trait is his dedication to absolute knowledge. While Meursault’s truth of being and feeling takes this form, it remains true for the conquest of the self or the world.

The absolute, according to Camus, liberates. The second trait is Meursault’s courage in the face of death. The hero is he who faces death without flinching and thereby affirms life. To be sure, Meursault does not so much confront death as accept it as a natural phenomenon; but this is tantamount to the same thing. For Camus, life and death are two aspects of the same reality. The third quality is Meursault’s detachment or indifference to opinion. He does not care what people think of him; he lives for himself alone”

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Handwritten manuscript of camus' 'the stranger' may fetch 800k euros at auction.

The 104-page draft is expected to reach between 500,000 and 800,000 euros at the Tajan auction house in Paris.

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Strange manuscript of Camus' 'The Stranger' up for auction

A handwritten manuscript of classic French novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus goes up for auction on Wednesday -- a unique item since it appears to have been made after the book was published.

The 104-page draft is expected to reach between 500,000 and 800,000 euros at the Tajan auction house in Paris.

But a number of clues indicate this was a light-hearted fake, since another signed manuscript also exists.

With Paris under Nazi occupation at the time, it may have been a way of raising desperately-needed funds by creating a handwritten copy for a wealthy fan.

"Its history and precise dating are mysterious, as is the progress of this strange novel," the auction house says in its notes.

The identity of the first buyer is unknown. It was later sold at auction twice -- in 1958 and 1991.

"The Stranger" had an initial print run of 4,400 copies, but quickly became a bestseller and then a classic of French literature, selling millions of copies.

Considered a key text in the existentialist movement, it recounts the story of a French settler in Algeria who kills an unnamed Arab man for reasons that remain unclear.

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The World Needs an Action Hero. Enter Twyla Tharp (and Camus).

Leading off the summer season at Little Island in Manhattan, the choreographer presents “How Long Blues,” with T Bone Burnett and David Mansfield.

A black and white portrait of the choreographer Twyla Tharp; She has big round glasses and short white hair. She looks directly at the camera, her arms draped over the back of a chair.

By Gia Kourlas

Last year, Twyla Tharp immersed herself in the work of the French writer and philosopher Albert Camus , namely “The Plague.” World events were on her mind, and his 1947 novel about a pandemic in Algeria struck a chord. In her new full-length work, an outdoor dance-and-musical hybrid, “How Long Blues,” named after a Leroy Carr song, Tharp finds inspiration in that writing and also in American jazz.

With original music and arrangements by T Bone Burnett and David Mansfield, the work opens the revamped summer festival at Little Island in Manhattan and its theater overlooking the Hudson River. It reminds Tharp a little of performing at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in 1971, when she presented the premiere of “Eight Jelly Rolls.” A couple of performances “had puddles onstage,” she said. “We were not above dancing with wet feet in those days.”

What about these days?

“They’ve changed,” she said.

The Delacorte was, she said, her group’s first proscenium experience in New York. But the Little Island stage, while also outdoors, is not that. Tharp, who directed, choreographed and conceived “How Long Blues,” which runs June 1 through 23, regards the proscenium as a wonderful thing. “A stage is an incredible invention where you can have real control,” she said. “You can focus to the quarter of a centimeter. When you’re working in one of these site-specific situations, you have to deal with God’s reality, not your own.”

Her reality, though, is to produce a shimmering experience of movement and music. “How Long Blues,” a melding of dance and theater with scenic and costume design by Santo Loquasto, features a cast that includes the Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris, along with a group of vivid dancers with varied training — some Tharp regulars, like John Selya and Reed Tankersley, and some newcomers. The jazz singer Andromeda Turre will perform with the band.

When creating “How Long Blues,” Tharp said she started thinking: “Where are we? Who are we? What’s relevant for all of us?” The coronavirus pandemic affected everyone, she continued. “What does that leave us all to deal with? It’s reconstruction time. It still is. We still have not recovered from the pandemic.”

And now, with everything happening in the world, there’s even more at stake. “My usual subject matter is unity,” Tharp said. “Freedom is a good one also. However, at this moment in time, it seemed to me that resiliency was the commodity that we were looking to anchor ourselves in order to keep going.”

Tharp, a force at 82, always seems to know how to keep it going. Or, as she put it, “I keep working because I keep learning.”

What follows are edited excerpts from a recent interview.

Why did you want to present a work at Little Island?

My first five years [as a choreographer] were site specific. So when I saw the space, it actually reminded me of a small theater space outside someplace on the East Side [where we performed] during that period of time. I said, Gee, this would be a different kind of same thing. It’s an extraordinary space. It is not a theater, which we’re attempting to create here. But it is like an event. That thing is over water in Manhattan halfway to New Jersey. You have the stars overhead.

What did you get out of that early time?

The capacity to put up a show anywhere, any time. With anything and with nothing. So you know you can do that, and that’s a good foundation to launch from.

What can you tell me about your subject matter for this new work?

What is important here is resiliency, both in terms of who Camus was, but also in terms of where our culture is right now. I think that all of us personally, and the culture in a bigger way, are trying to find resiliency so we don’t have to say it’s over. And so we can, at the same time, go: Things have got to change.

And what about Camus?

The notion of him being tubercular and knowing it from the time he was [a teenager] until he passed away was a thing that he had to confront on a daily basis. Look, we’re all going to die. I’m going to die. Why don’t I just kill myself now and get it over with? He was very brave, very smart, and had a really strong sense of humor, which amounted to a huge degree of vitality in combination with the fact that the guy was a doer. He was active, he was an athlete.

He wanted to be a professional soccer player. That was not possible because of the tuberculosis, but the passion for the physicality carried through his entire life. He continued to be a devotee. And one of the more meaningful, for me, remarks came out of an interview late in his life when — and I quote this not verbatim — he said that the only place he found real justice in human behavior was in soccer. In soccer and in physical endeavors, you can’t be corrupt. You have to be honest.

That had a big impact on my wanting to center a piece on a figure who was both very resilient and an active force.

What do you want the music to tell?

Well, first of all, the music is the tale. In jazz, a tune is resilient. A tune has the fortitude, it has the ability to be manipulated a thousand, a million different ways. “How Long Blues,” for example, is Leroy Carr. But the rendition that we use is Count Basie’s take. It’s how Basie heard the song. In a way it’s about truth.

How do you mean?

Something can be valid in a different way, a very long time later. Basie was a boogie guy in the ’40s, and he just kept evolving and finding alternative ways of doing something. American jazz has given millions of folks the ability to be both grounded and to reach out and to explore. Your responsibility is to do it your way.

And the song “My Way” is in this work, too, which is linked to your dances to Frank Sinatra.

I have a lot of history with a lot of this music. But “My Way,” apart from all the Sinatra references, seems a very perfect kind of statement about the existentialist’s dilemma. Let’s do it my way, and see what happens? “My Way,” I always think, evolves into more than just the me.

I happened to come upon a clip of a horn player who was in the streets in this black hoodie playing “My Way” as people passed him by with no regard for him whatsoever, none, totally unnoticed. He was playing, basically, his heart out.

That’s how the show starts. What does it mean?

It connects Camus and “The Stranger” and the other and the outsider and the observer. We’re seeing it happening. And that’s the thing about Little Island: It’s an event space in a way. More than a show being put on, you could go there anytime during the day and see things happen. I like the idea of starting the show with something that you, the observer, just could see happening anywhere on the street.

What is the role of dance in this piece?

This piece is about action. It’s about an action hero. It’s about a guy who wanted to be an athlete and got thrown into the world of the mind instead and found a way to exist there, but did it through the sensory experiences that he knew physically.

So from the get-go, you just take the action from this life and you say, OK, we’re going to walk because that’s something he did. We’re going to do all the movement that’s involved in playing soccer. It becomes taking action and extending that into dance rather than trying to stuff dancing into a narrative.

This is a different way of telling a narrative?

The dancing has to come through the action rather than vice versa. So in other words, if you think of Jerry [Robbins], you think of “West Side Story.” The action comes through the dancing. The dancing is the action. I’m doing the opposite.

Is this a way of highlighting the everyday mover, the way we all move?

I would call it an ongoing concern to “move” the audience, to allow them to feel, to help them feel they, too, could be up there. What we are doing is an illusion of the commonplace.

What is it like being the first person out of the gate at Little Island?

It’s kind of a frontier. I like a frontier, I’m happy with a frontier. I’d much rather have that than a played-out area.

Gia Kourlas is the dance critic for The Times. She writes reviews, essays and feature articles and works on a range of stories. More about Gia Kourlas

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COMMENTS

The Stranger (novel by Albert Camus)
The Stranger, enigmatic first novel by Albert Camus, published in French as L'Étranger in 1942. It was published as The Outsider in England and as The Stranger in the United States.. Plot summary. The title character of The Stranger is Meursault, a Frenchman who lives in Algiers (a pied-noir).The novel is famous for its first lines: "Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don't ...
The Stranger Study Guide
Though technically a philosophical essay, The Myth of Sisyphus is integral to a deeper understanding of The Stranger.It was published the same year as The Stranger and, along with the novel, cemented Camus' reputation as a prominent thinker. In it, Camus explicates the tenets of his philosophy, Absurdism, the ideas of which underpin much of the action of The Stranger.
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus
The Stranger is considered to be a novel written by Albert Camus in 1942. This work is regarded to be the embodiment of philosophical concepts developed in the previous century. Many scholars refer the novel to existentialism direction, though the author never considered himself the representative of this branch.
The Stranger Study Guide
The Stranger literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Stranger. The Stranger study guide contains a biography of Albert Camus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus: Literary Analysis Essay
The philosophy of existentialism emerged in Europe, sharing the ideas of individuality and freedom based on which people make decisions. Albert Camus is considered as existentialist, but he acknowledges his contributions to absurdism the basic principles of which are highlighted in his novel The Stranger. We will write a custom essay on your topic.
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Stranger by Albert Camus Visual Representation Books Related to The Stranger Directly related to The Stranger is Camus' best-known philosophical essay, The Myth of Sisyphus. It was published the same year as The Stranger was finished and outlines his beliefs about absurdism and the nature of life.The essay is regarded as one of Camus' finest works and often ranks alongside The Stranger ...
The Stranger Essays and Criticism
PDF Cite Share. The Stranger is probably Albert Camus's best known and most widely read work. Originally published in French in 1942 under the title L'Etranger, it precedes other celebrated ...
The Stranger
The Stranger was written by Albert Camus, one of the most popular stories published in 1942. It was published in French as L' Etranger. Later it was published in England and the United States as The Outsider and The Stranger respectively. The story runs around Meursault in a first-person narrative that announces the death of his mother and ...
The Stranger Critical Essays
1. Meursault never questions morality of writing such a letter. 2. Society's view of a man like Raymond and Meursault's association with him. D. Murder of the Arab and reasons for pulling the ...
PDF Albert Camus's The Stranger
Albert Camus's The Stranger: Critical Essays, Edited by Peter Francev This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK ... Albert Camus's The Stranger: Critical Essays xiii Benedict O'Donohoe read for a first degree in French and also took his doctorate at Magdalen ...
The Stranger Summary
The Stranger study guide contains a biography of Albert Camus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes.
Albert Camus's The stranger : critical essays
The essays here examine Camus's first published novel, The Stranger, from a variety of critical and theoretical perspectives, each drawing on the author's knowledge to present the first known critical examination in English. As such, this volume will shed new light on previous scholarship. (source: Nielsen Book Data)
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus: An Existential ...
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus is a classic novel that delves into the existential themes of absurdity, alienation, and the search for meaning in an indifferent world. Through the lens of the protagonist Meursault, Camus challenges conventional notions of morality and societal norms, prompting readers to question the human condition and the nature of existence.
The Stranger Essay Topics
Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Albert Camus's The Stranger: Critical Essays
Often marginalised on the sidelines of both philosophy and literature, the works of Albert Camus have, in recent years, undergone a renaissance. While most readers in either discipline claim Camus and his works to be 'theirs', the scholars presented in this volume tend to see him and his works in both philosophy and literature.This volume is a collection of critical essays by an ...
The Stranger Essay Questions
Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Prototypes of Existence and Essence in Camus's The Stranger
Albert Camus, "Preface to The Stranger," trans. Ellen Conroy Kennedy in Lyrical and Critical Essays by Albert Camus, ed. Philip Thody (New York: Vintage Books, 1970), pp. 335-337. John Valentine He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 1974.
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus Essay [1058 Words] GradeMiners
Camus' "The Stranger" was published in the dark days of the World War II, during the Existentialist movement, along with the essay collection "The Myth of Sisyphus". Meursault is the protagonist of Camus' "The Stranger", (Camus) who conveys Camus' ideas of independence, freedom and life. Meursault is a representative of ...
The Stranger Essay Essay
The Stranger Essay. The Stranger is one of the most famous novels by Albert Camus. The novel tells the story of Meursault, a man who is seemingly indifferent to the death of his mother and the trial that follows her death. The book has been praised for its exploration of freedom and death, two central themes in Camus's philosophy.
Essay Questions
Study Help Essay Questions. 1. Meursault is a Frenchman living in Algeria; of what importance is this fact? 2. Describe the wake and the funeral of Meursault's mother, detailing Meursault's reactions and impressions. 3. The sun is a complex symbol in this novel. Describe the dual role that it plays, noting particularly the role in the climactic ...
Strange manuscript of Camus' 'The Stranger' up for auction
A handwritten manuscript of classic French novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus goes up for auction on Wednesday -- a unique item since it appears to have been made after the book was published.
Handwritten manuscript of Camus' 'The Stranger' may fetch 800k euros at
Paris, Jun 04, 2024 -A handwritten manuscript of classic French novel "The Stranger " by Albert Camus goes up for auction on Wednesday -- a unique item since it appears to have been made after the book was published. The 104-page draft is expected to reach between 500,000 and 800,000 euros at the Tajan auction house in Paris.
Rare Albert Camus Manuscript of 'The Stranger' to be Auctioned in Paris
A unique handwritten manuscript of Albert Camus' classic novel 'The Stranger ' is set to be auctioned at the Tajan auction house in Paris on Wednesday. This 104-page draft is expected to fetch between €500,000 and €800,000, attracting significant interest from collectors and literary enthusiasts. What makes this manuscript particularly ...
Strange manuscript of Camus' 'The Stranger' up for auction
A handwritten manuscript of classic French novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus goes up for auction on Wednesday -- a unique item since it appears to have been made after the book was published ...
The World Needs an Action Hero. Enter Twyla Tharp (and Camus)
By Gia Kourlas. May 30, 2024. Last year, Twyla Tharp immersed herself in the work of the French writer and philosopher Albert Camus, namely "The Plague.". World events were on her mind, and ...

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