The Stranger by Albert Camus

Camus was born 11/7/1913 in Mondovi, Algeria.

The Stranger was completed in 1940 and published in 1942
Major influences in life and writing
1) Philosophy of moralism – concerned with judging the goodness or badness of human action and
character – leads to his ideas of the absurd.
2) Absences of God or belief in a God (struggling to make life meaningful in the face of God is
absurd – life is meaningless)
3) Moralist philosophers particularly Jean Paul Sartre
4) Foreign author’s and philosophies of the 1930s such as nihilism (an extreme form of skepticism
that denies all existence in God and advocates the destruction of social organizations).
5) Faulkner/Hemingway styles of writing and concepts
6) War/conflict in French Algeria
Camus fought stubbornly against war and against French prejudice of Arabs
Arabs considered 2nd class citizens and treated as a conquered people – tensions between French
institutions and Arabs are taken into account in The Stranger and all of Camus’ writing.

All led to combined philosophy associated with Camus of Existentialism and the Absurd

I. Existentialism is a philosophical movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. It emphasizes the
uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe. Existence is
unexplainable. Stresses free choice and responsibility for one’s actions. Actions must give meaning.
While there is diversity of positions associated with existentialism (a precise definition is impossible), it
suggests one major theme: a stress on individual existence and consequently on subjectivity, individual
freedom and choice. Nineteenth century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard reacted against the
philosophers since Plato (where the highest ethical good is universal) to insist that the individual’[s
highest good is to find his or her own unique vocation. In terms of moral choice, existentialists have
argued that there is no objective, rational basis for decisions; they stress the importance of individualism
in deciding questions of morality and truth. Most existentialists have held that rational clarity is
desirable wherever possible but that life’s most important questions are not accessible to reason or
science (in The Stranger, Mersault’s shooting of the Arab and refusal to accept God). 20th century
French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre first gave the term existentialism general currency by using it for
his own philosophy. Explicitly atheistic and pessimistic, his philosophy declared that human life
requires a rational basis but the attempt is a “futile passion.”

“The Absurd:” irresolvable paradox between objective judgment (uninfluenced by emotions and
personal prejudices) of an action and the subjective motivation (personal, unaffected by the outside
world) behind performance. It is what arises when man’s search for meaning in life is met by the truth
that there is no meaning – that it is not bad and it is not good; it simply is! ** Disappearance of
truth/goals leads to the absurdity of existence.

Camus’ major influence

Atheism
Philosophical influences of Jean Paul Sartre (who coined the term to fit his philosophy of pessimism
and atheism).
Nihilism (extreme form of skepticism – no belief in God, advocates destruction of all social
organizations.)
Existentialism
Theory of the absurd
 War/conflict in French occupied Algeria – against war and French prejudice of Arabs

Existential Philosophy in As I Lay Dying and The Stranger

• Stresses the importance of individualism in deciding questions of morality and truth.

• Highlights the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe
• Suggests the difficulty in attempting to understand human life “it is a futile passion.” In fact
existence is unexplainable.
• The outlook on life is often pessimistic and pointless

As I Lay Dying The Stranger

The journey itself is pointlessness (Addie says in As for The Stranger, it is Meursault himself. To
her chapter that it is simply revenge that is exacted him, life was just a series of tangible actions all
and not really her wish to be buried with her family isolated from one another. He was all about in the
(p. 173) moment feelings with no connection to emotions at
all. For example, he could or could not have shot
The pointlessness of language, again in regard to the Arab. Neither mattered that much necessarily.
Addie (who in fact many critics say is the main Either action (shooting or not shooting) was
character of the novel). She says that words mean pointless because the results didn’t matter. That is
nothing. When she talks about also true with his relationship with Marie (marry her
motherhood, love, “Words were shapes or not…it didn’t matter) and also with the chaplain
to fill a lack…” She’d been tricked by (accept God or not). His other choices include his
words (p. 172-173) This pointlessness of involvement in Raymond's affairs, his trip to
language is also evident when there is a Masson's beach house, and his taking of Raymond's
blank space (where a word should be). gun. After committing murder, Meursault struggles
(p.173). Addie is talking about the against society's attempts to manufacture and
disconnection between beings and the impose rational explanations for his attitudes and
inadequacy of language to unite them, actions. This struggle is embodied by Meursault's
the inefficiency of communicating by battle with the legal system that prosecutes him.
“swinging and twisting and never
touching” each other with words. Addie’s
chapter is full of musings about the
uselessness, or inadequacy, of words,
certain words like ‘motherhood’, ‘fear’,
‘pride’, ‘love’, ‘sin’, and ‘salvation.’
These words for heavily weighted
concepts strike Addie as so far from
adequate that those people who had
never experienced the concepts
embodied by those words must have
made them up. Describing her
experience with Cash, her first child,
Addie says:
That was when I learned that words are
no good; that words don’t ever fit even
what they are trying to say at. When he
was born I knew that motherhood was
invented by someone who had to have a
word for it because the ones that had
the children didn’t care whether there
was a word for it or not. I knew that fear
was invented by someone that had
never had fear; pride, who never had the
pride. (171). Her condition of deadness,
speaking from the void between is and
not-is makes her the perfect vehicle for
Faulkner to describe the indescribable,
approach the unapproachable, express
the inexpressible, as he so gracefully
does, does-not.

Structure (parts of the novel juxtapose each other)

Part I - covers 18 days: funeral, love affair, murder (insignificant days in the life of Mersault)
Focus is on a reality that is unaffected by the outside world
Mersault is content to exist - physical stimuli is his source of enjoyment (moved only by
physical experiences).

*Beninning of Mersault’s conscious life

Part II – covers about a year: trial and jail sentence (trial not so much about his crime as it was his
life)
Trial judges Mersault’s crime and life
Objective reality of Mersault and subjectivity of courts (p.86 and 94)
* Self realization (change in character) (p.80-81 beginning of change; p 84, 87, 90, 93, 97,
121, 122 – actualization of the change; complete at end of novel.)

Style
• Sharp, concise sentences
• Simple action verbs
• Very little dialogue -
• Little cause / effect relationship between one sentence and another
Use of Time:
• Past tense mostly (as if being told in retrospect)
• Part I rapid time
• Chapter 6, Part I (time slows p.56)
• Part II, slower accumulation of time

Tone: funeral/office/weekend – indifference/apathy: illustrating absurdity of life. The normal reaction

would be vastly different. Tone change occurs when physically stimulated – p25, p20, p34, p50-52

Salamano/Dog: love/hate relationship provides strong ironic contrast to the relationship he has with
Marie.
• Mersault doesn’t love Marie because it does not matter
• Salamano’s dog is all that matters

Crying of Salamano troubles Mersault (“for some reason I thought of Maman”) – goes to bed
without eating, physical stimulus (eating) was incapable of enjoying – clashed with emotions
Themes
The irrationality of the Universe: Though The Stranger is a work of fiction, it contains a strong
resonance of Camus's philosophical notion of absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual
lives and human existence in general have no rational meaning or order. However, because people have
difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly attempt to identify or create rational structure and
meaning in their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity's futile attempt to find rational order
where none exists. Though Camus does not explicitly refer to the notion of absurdity in The Stranger,
the tenets of absurdity operate within the novel. Neither the external world in which Meursault lives nor
the internal world of his thoughts and attitudes possesses any rational order. Meursault has no
discernable reason for his actions, such as his decision to marry Marie and his decision to kill the Arab.

Society nonetheless attempts to fabricate or impose rational explanations for Meursault's irrational
actions. The idea that things sometimes happen for no reason, and that events sometimes have no
meaning is disruptive and threatening to society. The trial sequence in Part Two of the novel represents
society's attempt to manufacture rational order. The prosecutor and Meursault's lawyer both offer
explanations for Meursault's crime that are based on logic, reason, and the concept of cause and effect.
Yet these explanations have no basis in fact and serve only as attempts to defuse the frightening idea that
the universe is irrational. The entire trial is therefore an example of absurdity—an instance of
humankind's futile attempt to impose rationality on an irrational universe.

The Meaningless of Human Life: A second major component of Camus's absurdist philosophy is the
idea that human life has no redeeming meaning or purpose. Camus argues that the only certain thing in
life is the inevitability of death, and, because all humans will eventually meet death, all lives are all
equally meaningless. Meursault gradually moves toward this realization throughout the novel, but he
does not fully grasp it until after his argument with the chaplain in the final chapter. Meursault realizes
that, just as he is indifferent to much of the universe, so is the universe indifferent to him. Like all
people, Meursault has been born, will die, and will have no further importance.

Paradoxically, only after Meursault reaches this seemingly dismal realization is he able to attain
happiness. When he fully comes to terms with the inevitability of death, he understands that it does not
matter whether he dies by execution or lives to die a natural death at an old age. This understanding
enables Meursault to put aside his fantasies of escaping execution by filing a successful legal appeal. He
realizes that these illusory hopes, which had previously preoccupied his mind, would do little more than
create in him a false sense that death is avoidable. Meursault sees that his hope for sustained life has
been a burden. His liberation from this false hope means he is free to live life for what it is, and to make
the most of his remaining days.

The Importance of the Physical World: The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the
physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the
sensate world results from the novel's assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human
life. Throughout The Stranger, Meursault's attention centers on his own body, on his physical
relationship with Marie, on the weather, and on other physical elements of his surroundings. For
example, the heat during the funeral procession causes Meursault far more pain than the thought of
burying his mother. The sun on the beach torments Meursault, and during his trial Meursault even
identifies his suffering under the sun as the reason he killed the Arab. The style of Meursault's narration
also reflects his interest in the physical. Though he offers terse, plain descriptions when glossing over
emotional or social situations, his descriptions become vivid and ornate when he discusses topics such as
nature and the weather.

Symbols
Prison – cage in which all peoples exist (all people are under a death sentence) a sentence of existence.
Mersault accepts prison.

Sea - signifies freedom and the source of life – primal force – fundamental rhythms of existence lie
within the sea

Sun – giver (Mersault loves the sun; basks in its warmth in response to his physical needs – beach see
ch. 6)/taker (lethal furnace of destruction – funeral/vigil, shooting of Arab, trail see ch. 6) of life.

The Courtroom: In the courtroom drama that comprises the second half of The Stranger, the court
symbolizes society as a whole. The law functions as the will of the people, and the jury sits in judgment
on behalf of the entire community. In The Stranger, Camus strengthens this court-as-society symbolism
by having nearly every one of the minor characters from the first half of the novel reappear as a witness
in the courtroom. Also, the court's attempts to construct a logical explanation for Meursault's crime
symbolize humanity's attempts to find rational explanations for the irrational events of the universe.
These attempts, which Camus believed futile, exemplify the absurdity Camus outlined in his philosophy.

The Crucifix: The crucifix that the examining magistrate waves at Meursault symbolizes Christianity,
which stands in opposition to Camus's absurdist world view. Whereas absurdism is based on the idea
that human life is irrational and purposeless, Christianity conceives of a rational order for the universe
based on God's creation and direction of the world, and it invests human life with higher metaphysical
meaning. The crucifix also symbolizes rational belief structures in general. The chaplain's insistence
that Meursault turn to God does not necessarily represent a desire that Meursault accept specifically
Christian beliefs so much as a desire that he embrace the principle of a meaningful universe in general.
When Meursault defies the magistrate by rejecting Christianity, he implicitly rejects all systems that
seek to define a rational order within human existence. This defiance causes Meursault to be branded a
threat to social order.

Motifs

Death and Decay: The different characters in The Stranger hold widely varying attitudes toward decay
and death. Salamano loves his decaying, scab-covered dog and he values its companionship, even
though most people find it disgusting. Meursault does not show much emotion in response to his
mother's death, but the society in which he lives believes that he should be distraught with grief.
Additionally, whereas Meursault is content to believe that physical death represents the complete and
final end of life, the chaplain holds fast to the idea of an afterlife. An essential part of Meursault's
character development in the novel is his coming to terms with his own attitudes about death. At the end
of the novel, he has finally embraced the idea that death is the one inevitable fact of human life, and is
able to accept the reality of his impending execution without despair.

Watching and Observation: Throughout the novel there are instances of characters watching Meursault,
or of his watching them. This motif recalls several components of Camus's absurdist philosophy. The
constant watching in The Stranger suggests humanity's endless search for purpose, and emphasizes the
importance of the tangible, visible details of the physical world in a universe where there is no grander
meaning. When Meursault watches people on the street from his balcony, he does so passively,
absorbing details but not judging what he sees. By contrast, the people in the courtroom watch
Meursault as part of the process of judgment and condemnation. In the courtroom, we learn that many of
Meursault's previous actions were being watched without his—or our—knowledge. The Arabs watch
Raymond and his friends with implicit antagonism as they walk to the bus. Raymond's neighbors act as
spectators to his dispute with his mistress and the police officer, watching with concern or petty
curiosity. At times, watching is a mysterious activity, such as when Mersault watches the woman at
Celeste's, and later when she watches him in court. The novel's moments of watching and observation
reflect humanity's endless search for meaning, which Camus found absurd.

Conflict: the way Meursault experiences life vs. the way in which society expects him to experience it.

Title: stranger/outsider to society. P.98, 84 – voice stripped, cannot speak for himself.

Chapter 6: Climax of the novel

Symbols of doom

• Arabs across the street

• Conflict between Raymond and Arabs represents French/Algerian conflict.
• Trouble waking symbolizes doom
• Negative portrayal of sun – disaster to come
• Sun is symbolized as a knife

Contrasts

Marie’s perception of he day (claims it is beautiful) and joy is contrasted by Meursault’s gloom (the sun
stabs at him and slaps him in the face) and by symbols of doom.

Tone
Expectant; pointing toward danger or disaster

Irony: “funeral” face

Sun as a Character and Symbol

Driving force
• Slaps him in the face
• Sun’s weight is unbearable
• Feels beaten down by it
• Light stabs at his eyes

Use of Time
Camus slows time, covering more details, p.50

Last Two Lines (see book)

• Ends not so much with murder of Arab as with Meursault’s return to consciousness
• Aware that he has committed an act of prime importance which before had no meaning
• Jolted into knowing that he has desecrated the calm of the beach
• Each shot into the Arab is undoing a life of rhythmic drifting – he begins his conscious life.

Mersault’s Pleasures Altered

• Cigarette
• Sun does not have same effect
• Sea p.59 “The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath.”