The Stranger
The Stranger was originally written in French. When Stuart Gilbert translated the novel, he came across a small problem. “The title of Camus’ classic novel is difficult to render into English because the French word bears the connotations of both ‘stranger’ and ‘foreigner’ at the same time, and each of these concepts is at play in the novel.” (Mairowitz1) Finding the right translation was crucial because the title is symbolic. “The Stranger symbolizes the theme of the story.” (Mairowits1) Meusault is a stranger to society. “He is alienated by society because of his unique personality.” (Alley2)
Hearing Meursault tell his story, allows the reader to experience his life first hand. Writing the novel in first person narrative allows the reader to go through Meursaults experiences.
The plot is told in chronological order. It begins with Meursault discovering his mother has passed away. After the funeral, he returns to his every day life. He goes to movies, spends time with his girlfriend, goes to the beach and makes friends with his neighbor.
Meursault and his neighbor, Raymond Sintes, begin spending a lot of time together. A day relaxing day at the beach turns into a blood bath. Because of a disagreement, Meursault kills an Arab.
Meursault is arrested for killing an Arab. He is sent to prison and tried for murder. During the trail, Meursault’s lawyer asks him to lie. Because of his honesty, Meursault is marked as a danger to society. (Alley1)
The Stranger’s setting is in the city of Algiers. Algiers is located in North Africa. The entire novel except his mothers funeral, took place in Algiers.
In the novel, Meursault is the main character. He is an outsider to society. Meursault enjoys simple thing, like going to the beach, drinking and having sexual relationships. There is no right or wrong in Meursault’s mind since he never judges anything or anyone. Because Meursault does not judge other people, he does not expect others to judge him. Therefore, he will do things without considering social values or how other people might think towards him. (Alley2)
One of the only people attracted to Meursault’s unique personality is Marie. Marie is Meursault’s girlfriend. Her love for Meursault remains true throughout the novel.
Meusault’s life becomes very complicated after he is introduced to ...
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...society. Meursault does not care about social rules and customs. He acts and does what he wants. Since society does not understand Meursault, they find him threatening.
For example, “the mortuary attendant felt strange and uncomfortable because he did not understand why Meursault was so different from the usual clients.” (Alley1)
Camus put a unique twist on a very common theme. Many writers talk about a judgmental society, however Camus took a different approach. He showed how society’s judgments could affect a person’s life. Meursault was sentences to death because his behaviors were abnormal. He was not the standard citizen; therefore he was marked as a danger to society. The Stranger was a good book that everyone should read. If everyone read the Stranger, then maybe society would be less judgmental.
Bibliography:
Alley. Albert Camus. 10/15/2001
www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/9095/outsider
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Librairie Gallimard. C1942.
Drajem, Linda. The Stranger- A Novel on a Man in Revolt. 10/15/2001
Mairowitz, David. Introducing Camus. Sysnopsis of The Stranger. 10/15/2001
www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/1311/astranger.html
“Next came Raymond, who was the last witness. He waved to me and all of the sudden blurted out that I was innocent” (95). This scene is ironic because prior this trial, Raymond doesn’t express any sense of loyalty. But in this scene, Raymond shows loyalty towards Meursault. He says that the Arabs hated him and Meursault was there by chance. This scene is important because it shows how everything that occurred was indirectly caused by Raymond and Meursault’s friendship under the pretense of “chance.”
Meursault is a fairly average individual who is distinctive more in his apathy and passive pessimism than in anything else. He rarely talks because he generally has nothing to say, and he does what is requested of him because he feels that resisting commands is more of a bother than it is worth. Meursault never did anything notable or distinctive in his life: a fact which makes the events of the book all the more intriguing.
Since he cares little for the affairs of the world, claiming they do not mean anything, then justice—a major concern of the world—also means nothing to him. His actions both before and after his decision to kill a man without provocation demonstrate his apathetic view of the world, and his indifference to justice. Therefore Meursault’s search for justice, culminated by the court’s decision to execute him, remains an example to all of the inability of society to instill justice in criminals. Meursault’s perpetual refusal to acquire a sense of morality and emotion instigates skepticism in all who learn of his story of society’s true ability to instill justice in the
The main character Meursault is literally a stranger, a stranger to the reader. He is a stranger in many ways. Meursault does not act as we would say a normal person would. Being as he did not shed a tear at his own mothers funeral. Meursault also shot and killed an Arab at the beach and showed no regrets. Throughout the novel Meursault kept himself isolated himself mentally,
When Meursault returns home he decides to take another day off and relax at the beach. On his way out he sees an old man beating his dog and cussing at it ruthlessly. Normally most people would be bothered by the fact of a man beating a small dog, but Muersault watches as if nothing bad were happening. When Meursault is at the beach he meets a girl, named Marie, which he finds very attractive. Meursault and Marie become very close. As the story progresses they begin taking part in sexual activities. Marie tells Muersault that she loves him and asks if he loves her back.
At first glance, Meursault could be seen as an evil man. He shows no grief at his mother’s funeral, worrying more about the heat. His first reaction to his mother’s death is not sadness, it is a matter-of-fact, unemotional acceptance of the situation. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” Later on in the story, Meursault kills an Arab on the beach, and his only concern is that he has ruined the calm, pleasant day he was having. When he is in jail, the magistrate comes in an attempt to save Meursault’s soul, but instead of cooperating, Meursault simply confounds the magistrate by refusing to believe in God. Even at his trial, Meursault doesn’t show any remorse for having killed the Arab. Based on this evidence alone, how can we not see Meursault as evil?
...immediately gives an impression of a lack of emotion towards the demise of his mother. This lack of emotion highlights the existentialist ideal that we all die, so it doesn't matter what life we have while we are alive. We simply exist, as did Meursault. It becomes apparent, as the novella unfolds, that Meursault has acquired an animal like indifference towards society. His interactions with his neighbour Raymond are an example of his indifferences. It never dawns upon Meursault that society does not condone his interactions with the pimp, avoided by his community. Meursault simply acts to fill his time. Being a single man, he has a lot of time to fill, and finds the weekends passing particularly slowly.
During the first half of the novel, we see many examples of Meursault’s freedom and how he exercises it. He does what he wants, when he wants to with no regard to how he affects the people around him. Meursault lives his life with no restrictions. He is his own boss. Relaxed and free.
Meursault is a different character than what is expected of a protagonist.
As an absurdist, he does not try to find any meaning within his life because it is completely ‘absurd’ to believe in any type of meaning. When presented with any sort of discomfort of wrongdoing that blame was immediately pointed to the sensation of heat. Furthermore, Meursault states, “…a soldier smiled at me and asked if I’d been traveling long. I said “Yes” just so I wouldn’t have to say anything else” (Camus 4). Through this, the soldier symbolizes society trying to reach out to Meursault; however, he is resilient and does not feel any motive to conform towards the societal norm.
Raymond, Meursault’s new best friend shares his story about his cheating ex girlfriend. Both of them come up with a plan to get the ex to pay for what she has done in an effective way. Meursault in his apartment building with his girlfriend. The two come to a point where love is not what the relationship is about. After, Raymond gets in an altercation with his ex and beats her.
In Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is a character who has definite values and opinions concerning the society in which he lives. His self-inflicted alienation from society and all its habits and customs is clear throughout the book. The novel itself is an exercise in absurdity that challenges the reader to face the nagging questions concerning the meaning of human existence. Meursault is an existentialist character who views his life in an unemotional and noncommittal manner, which enhances his obvious opinion that in the end life is utterly meaningless.
Every character that revolves around Meursault seems to be in direct contrast to him. Meursault is an amoral person who does not seem to care passionately about anything. He acts in accordance with physical desires. In other words, Meursault is a sensualist person. At this particular time in his life, his path crosses with his neighbor, Raymond, who feels as though his girlfriend is cheating on him. He decides to take revenge with minor aid form Meursault. Meursault helps him only because he thinks he has nothing to lose if he does. As things lead into one another, the first major violent act of the book is committed.
Meursault is a bit detached from life and is deathly honest to himself and those around him. Being an atheist, Meursault believes in life and death and nothing beyond that. He does think about the consequences of his actions and isn’t scared of them either. In Meursault’s character,
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world. Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader. The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment. He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others.