The Stranger Lit Card
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The novel was published in 1942
The work takes place in 1940’s Algiers; French occupied Algeria
The novel is organized into two parts of equal length. The epicenter of the novel, the shooting of the Arab is preceded and followed by five chapters.
Characters:
Meursault: He is the main character of the work. Throughout the novel Meursault’s existentialist ideas are portrayed through his reactions to the
many losses that occur throughout the novel. Fist with the loss of his mom, he is unaffected by it, and goes on the even characterize this day as just another
Sunday. His reactions or rather lack of reaction to all of the events occurring around him is the driving factor of the novel.
Maman: This is Meursault’s mother who has been placed into a nursing home by her own son. She is an important minor character because
Meursault’s reaction to her death forces the audience to almost think negatively of Meursault.
Raymond: Raymond is a minor character and is completely opposite Meursault. Raymond involves himself in all of the earthly pleasures that
Meursault has no interest in. He participates in drama, which Meursault is indifferent to. Raymond is most important because he is responsible for putting
Meursault into the situation that provoked him to shoot the Arab.
Marie: Marie is another important minor character because her interactions with Meursault help to further reveal his character and inner
thoughts. Marie is very indifferent to her. He does not care who the woman is, as long as she is sleeping with him. She asks Meursault to marry her and he
replies with, “It’s all the same to me.”
The Chaplain: This minor character acts as a catalyst for the development of Meursault’s character. Once Meursault is found guilty of murder the
Chaplain speaks to Meursault and is dumbfounded at how little Meursault cares about his impending death. It is in the scene with the Chaplain where the
audience sees how Meursault views religion, which further supports the existential ides of the novel.
Point of View: This novel is told from the point of view of Meursault. He is the narrator. He is used as the narrator because the novel goes about explaining the
unusual existential thoughts that Meursault has. Being that he is the narrator we are able to better understand his motive for most of his actions, many of which
people still don’t understand.
Literary Devices:
Symbolism- Throughout the stranger many symbols appear. One of the most important symbols is the courtroom in which a large part of the second half of the
novel takes place. The courtroom is a symbol for society as a whole. All of the people that Meursault has come in contact throughout the navel are there to show to
community that he comes from. The jury is there to represent to judgment that society places upon people. The proceedings that occur within the courtroom
symbolize the way people attempt to make rational explanation out of irrational events. This example enhances the work because it allows for further explanation
of Meursault’s difference to others.
Repetition- Repetition happens many times throughout the novel. The most significant example of repetition is the repetition of Meursault saying that the sun is
on his head or on his body or that he is hot. Anything to do with the sun irritates Meursault. The sun shining in his eye is one example that Meursault gave for
shooting the Arab. This example enhances the work because it keeps bringing us back to how odd Meursault is and how certain things that most people wouldn’t
even think about are such a driving factor is how Meursault chooses his actions.
Theme: There are two major themes in this novel, the first being the meaning less of human life and two, irrationality. Camus would argue that human life is
meaningless because of the vast amount of irrational events that make up human life. The meaningless of human life comes from Camus’s Doctrine of the Absurd.
This philosophy is one that simply says that there is no point to human life and all that can be looked forward to is a person’s impending death. This is why
Meursault does not seem to be affected by anything that goes on around him. All of the events that should have affected him don’t: the death of his mom, his death
sentence. He does not value human life because he knows that at some point it will all come to an expected death.
Irrationality is another big theme in The Stranger. Meursault, in the second part of the novel, is tried in a court of law. He does not know why he killed the Arab
and does not really care. The jury cannot accept that his actions were irrational. They try to put some rational meaning into what he has done, and furthermore try
to place a rational punishment upon him. The society does not like irrationality because they fear that it would ruin the justice system; everything has to be done
for a reason.
“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (3) This quote said by the narrator, Meursault, reflects the themes of irrationality and the meaningless of
human life. Meursault does not value the life that has recently been lost and he has no rational reasons for not being emotionally rattled after the death of his
mom.
“… I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.” (123) The title of the work is
reflected in this quote. We see now that he is a complete stranger to everyone. His reasons for everything seem so absurd to the vast majority of people. This also
goes to remind the audience how different Meursault was to the rest of society.
“I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.” (41) This quote does not seem like anything significant. However it is Meursault’s
response to Marie asking him if he wanted to get married. This reflects the theme of indifference and the meaningless of human life. If life is meaningless then why
try to do things to make a difference. The only thing that matters is that everyone will eventually die.