1. Title: The Stranger
2. Author: Albert Camus
3. The title, The Stranger, in my opinion refers to the main character, Monsieur
Meursault, and his perception of life. He seems to have no feeling at all, while the people
around him show emotion, so I think that's why it's called The Stranger. He doesn't know
how to really relate to other people. He doesn't even seem to know exactly what he
believes in. He is a stranger to life.
4. The story is organized in chronological order, and it's separated into two parts; events
leading up to the shooting of the Arab and everything that happens after the shooting (his
time in jail, the trial, etc...).
5. The setting takes place in France during the 1930s or 1940s. At the beginning of the
novel, everything takes place in small town or village that is within a bus ride of the
beach. Halfway throughout the book the setting changes strictly to prison and the
courtroom.
6. The setting simply makes the story seem real. Though there isn't much description
about the surroundings, they are talked about enough to make it seems like a real place.
The physical structures aren't described nearly as much as the weather and elements,
which makes you feel like you are in the characters' shoes.
7. The main character is Monsieur Meursault. He is a man in his twenties or thirties, and
that's all that you can infer about his physical nature. You do learn a lot about his
personality, though. Meursault is a very odd character. He seems almost like a robot; he
lacks almost any emotion or feeling. He has no opinion on almost all matters, so
whenever someone asks him a question, he either simply agrees or says no. If he can't
respond with yes or no, he usually will not answer the question. He is very awkward, but
people seem to like him even though he doesn't talk at all. He lacks motivation, and just
lets life pass by him.
8. The story starts out with Meursault saying that his mother died. He can't remember if
it happened today or yesterday, which shows his lack of emotion from the beginning. He
goes to her funeral and shows no emotion at all; he doesn't cry or even seem upset, and he
doesn't want to see his mother one last time before she is buried. After the funeral is
over, he goes back home for the weekend. Meursault spends time with his girlfriend
Marie going to the movies and to the beach. He also spends some time with his neighbor
Raymond who has trouble with his girlfriend. Raymond thinks that she is cheating on
him, so he wants to beat her. Raymond asks Meursault for his opinion on the matter, but
he just agrees with Raymond in that he should get back at her.
Raymond follows through in hurting his girlfriend, which leads to him becoming
a target of her brother. Her brother and his crew watch Raymond and Meursault as they
get on a bus to go to the beach and visit a friend of Raymond. Raymond thinks that they
will be safe, but when they are on the beach, the brother and his crew are there and attack
Raymond. Raymond is cut on the arm and the mouth, but the injuries aren't serious.
Shortly after that, Meursault takes Raymond's gun and goes out to the beach to find the
brother, then shoots him five times, killing him for no apparent reason.
Meursault is then taken into custody and stays in prison for about a year. He
doesn't seemed phased at all by the fact that he killed somebody and that he is stuck in
prison. During the trial, his insensitivity is brought up and used against him. He is found
guilty and is sentenced to be beheaded in front of a crowd. No one can ever get through
to him, not even the chaplain that tries to awaken him to his life.
9. I think the theme is basically about how people can be strangers to life, as is the case of
Meursault. He shows no remorse for killing someone, he is not saddened by the death of
his own mother, and always answers questions with a yes or no. He has no motivation
for anything, like the idea of marrying Marie. She asks him to marry her, but he says that
it doesn't make any difference. I think the author is just trying to point out how it's wrong
to live like that, and that it's necessary to have emotion and feeling to live a full life.
10. The most interesting scene in the book is the scene where Meursault shoots the Arab
brother. The description of how the sun pushed Meursault toward him portrayed the
scene very well. It was weird how Meursault was overtaken by this urge to kill a man,
when normally Meursault was very calm and collected during the story. The scene
seemed to stand out from the rest of the book, so that's why I think it's the most
interesting.
11. I thought it was a pretty good novel. It was on the short side, but the author's writing
style allowed him to put all the necessary information he needed and portray the story the
way he wanted to. I thought there might be a twist at the end and that Meursault wouldn't
be guillotined, but I was wrong. I also thought there would be a stranger introduced in
the story that would help Meursault at some point, but at the end I realized that he was
the stranger. The story is easy to read and it's fairly eventful, so it was actually pretty
enjoyable to read.