Stanton Halterman
AP Lit
4/11/11
Ms. Vogt
The Stranger Essays
Chapter 3: Dear diary, today I gave my sweetheart more money to spend with her
friends but she again said she needs more to live off of I am beginning to wonder if I am
being taken advantage of. Dear diary, today I found a receipt from the mall of my
girlfriends past purchases but it does not make sense how could she be spending this kind
of money because I have not given it to her? Unless she is with another man on the side
which now that I think about it is the only logical explanation she is cheating on me!
Dear diary, I confronted my girlfriend about my suspicions and it’s true she is cheating
on me I broke up with her, but my I still yearn for her and I want revenge I must seek a
remedy for this perhaps that Meursault fellow will be willing to help me. Dear diary, with
Meursault’s advice I was able to get my ex-girlfriend back to my room after we had sex I
beat her for the pain she caused me but unfortunately the noise attracted the attention of
my neighbors and in turn the police but that’s okay I am satisfied with the result she has
learned her lesson now I can get on with my life.
Chapter 4: Dear Mother,
Today as Meursault and I were walking down the street we ran into the old man
Salamano who seemed very distraught over something and we found out after he asked
us that he was missing his dog. Salamano asked us if we had seen his dog anywhere and
told us he had run away, upon hearing this Meursault told Salamano that he would be
best checking out the pound to see if the dog had been picked up. However, Salamano
claimed he did not care about the dog since it had abandoned him and left. So later on we
were in Meursault’s apartment and I asked him again if he loved me and he told me the
same opinion he had last time which was somewhat disappointing. I then asked him if he
would be willing to marry me and he said if I wanted to we could get married a
questioned him further about his views and he was bluntly clear about them and yet I still
feel like I love him so I said I wanted to get married to him and he agreed. The next day
Meursault told me about how Salamano had come to his apartment again and told him
that he had checked the pound and his dog had not been there. Meursault told me that he
said that the dog had likely been hit by a car and was no longer alive but if he wanted to
be sure he might try checking the police station and after hearing that Salamano departed
and said he would check the police station. Needless to say I felt bad for the old man and
hoped that his dog had not been killed and would return to him.
Sincerely your daughter
Marie
Chapter 5: Today Marie asked if I wanted if I loved her again and I replied in the same
way I had last time saying that it did not matter but I do not think that I did. Marie then
asked me if I would marry her and I responded by saying that I did not care and that if
she wanted to get married that we could. Marie then asked me if I would respond to any
woman in the same manner and I told her that honestly I would because again it does not
matter. Marie then proceeded to call me peculiar but then said that she wanted to get
Stanton Halterman
AP Lit
4/11/11
Ms. Vogt
married so that means we are engaged I suppose I should have felt excitement but I did
not. Later that day the old man Salamano stopped by my apartment and said that I must
feel very sad that my mother was dead and that he understood why I put her in the old
folk’s home. He began to recall how much he loved his dog and how it had become a
replacement in companionship after his wife had died and how he and the dog had grown
old together. Salamano then said that despite the fact that he had beaten the dog he loved
it and wished he had it back as he left he commented that he hoped the dogs did not bark
tonight because it always makes him think that it is his.
Chapter 6: The overview for this episode is simple but yet it has a deeper meaning for
those who are actually willing to look for it. It starts out with the character Meursault, his
fiancée Marie, and Raymond heading to a bus to go to Masson’s beach house but as they
leave the apartment there are three Arabs waiting near the bus stop just staring but to
Raymond’s great relief they do not board the bus after them. When the group arrives at
Masson’s the immediately head to the beach where the characters Meursault and Marie
have a great time swimming in tandem, all the while though the heat of the beach is
unbearable to Meursault. In the midst of all this two Arabs show up and one of them is
the brother of Raymond’s former mistress and a fight quickly breaks out. It seems that
Meursault, Raymond, and Masson of the advantage until Raymond’s adversary produces
a knife and slashes Raymond on his arm and mouth and then they run while Masson and
Meursault take Raymond back home and then to the hospital. When the character
Raymond returns from the hospital he is bandage heavily but heads down to the beach
despite Meursault’s warning and confronts the Arabs and pulls a gun but the character
Meursault talks him down and takes the gun and the Arabs escape. The character
Raymond wants to stay on the beach but again the sun is to much for the character
Meursault so he heads back up to the house, but as he is heading up he heads into one of
the Arabs whop pulls a knife on Raymond the suns rays blind him and he fires the gun
once and then three more times. The sun plays a key role in this episode showing us that
the sun is a representation of the full force of stress and pressure that Meursault has been
suppressing which causes him to release it in the instant that he is threatened.