Setting in The Stranger
Algeria-The novel takes place in the mid 1940’s in Algeria. During this time the French we colonizing Algeria and their present was affecting the younger generation. Also, this book is set after World War I and just before World War II.
Meursault’s Apartment- Meursault apartment describes who he is. He only lives in one room of the apartment and he doesn’t have a lot of stuff in there. His apartment becomes important when Meursault is sitting in his cell and is passing time by having vivid memories of his apartment and how it is laid out.
The Vigil- At the beginning of the novel, Meursault’s mother dies. He gets a message from the place where she was living. At the Vigil he falls asleep, drinks coffee and smokes a cigarette. These actions show that he does not care about the death of his mother and wants to get back to his everyday life. While at the vigil, he asks the caretaker if he could dim the lights, the caretaker says he can’t because of the way the lights were wired. He said that it’s either light or dark, there is no middle. This shows that light is already affecting Meursault at the early stages of the novel.
The Funeral- The funeral takes place the day after the vigil. Walking to the funeral site, Meursault can only think about how hot it is and how bright the sun is. Even during the funeral all he is worried about is the hotness and the sun. This shows us how much light and the sun affect Meursault and how he will be in a constant battle with it throughout the novel.
Celeste – Meursault’s good friend and owner of the restaurant that Meursault eats at a lot. This is also where Meursault sees the (robot) woman who is interesting to him. He watches her add up her total bill before she is done and her unique habits (which are strange to us).
Beach- The Beach is where Meursault takes Marie and Raymond go for a day. They are with Raymond’s friend, Masson, and his wife. They all swim and have a good time. While at the beach, the group of Arabs (that were following Raymond) were there. At first they fought with each and then went their separate ways. Meursault comes back to the same spot and sees the Arab sleeping. The Arab wakes and pulls a knife and Meursault fires the gun. After the first shot he shoots 4 more times and is then arrested.
Jail - Meursault’s new home is in jail after the Murder of the Arab. In his jail cell he learns how to past time by sleeping for about 12-16 hours at a time, reading an old newspaper article about the murder of a man who went to surprise his family and by having vivid images of his apartment. The last time he sees Marie is when she comes to visit Meursault only 1 time.
Court- This is where Meursault trial takes place. Before the trial when Meursault is appointed a lawyer by the court and he thought that was nice. When he meets with his lawyer, his lawyer is surprised at his answers about his mother’s funeral and other questions. During the trail Meursault is not really focused on much and is just listening to the court talk about his case. While going through his trial, the court goes back to other events that have Meursault has been in especially his reactions to his mother’s funeral. When asked if Meursault had anything to say he said no. The court’s decision was that Meursault would be executed in public.
Characters in The Stranger
Major Characters:
Meursault – main character; Absurd hero à commits murder (shoots Arab), but is tried for actions completely unrelated (his mother’s death and funeral)-comes to realization in Part 2 that life is meaningless and death is inevitable; constantly comments on meaninglessness of things; in Part 1, he often does things because society expects him to (borrowing black clothing for funeral, apologizing for his mother’s death), but he also does some things that seem strange to the reader (smoking during his mother’s vigil, watching the people below from his window), yet he is accepted and even favored by many of the other characters in the novel.
Minor Characters:
Marie – Meursault’s lover; beautiful girl searching for meaning in life through LOVE (which is pretty absurd, since there’s no point to life, according to the Absurdist!); desperate for love from a man who cannot return it in any way other than physically; asks Meursault to marry her twice, but he says it doesn’t matter to him
Raymond – friend and neighbor of Meursault; looks for meaning in life through power; assaulted his girlfriend because she was cheating on him (now remember, he was a pimp…); because of these GF problems, he runs into trouble with some Arabs and this leads to Meursault killing one of them; claimed to be a warehouse worker, but people around the apartments gossiped and knew that he was a pimp; Meursault thought he was alright, and they were “pals”
Maman – Meursault’s mother; novel begins with her death; with Meursault placing her in a nursing home, the novel starts the novel off with a negative attitude towards his character; although she is dead, her presence remains throughout by constant references back to her death, vigil, funeral, etc.
Salamano – neighbor who has a sickly dog that he constantly beats and curses; searches for meaning in life through companionship, and when that is taken away (the dog is lost), he is left helpless and alone; others see him as old, grungy, and almost creepy-looking, but he finds opportunities to talk to Meursault a few times, and even Meursault, Mr. Indifference, comes close to sympathizing with him
Masson and his wife – Raymond, Meursault, and Marie go to the beach home of this couple the weekend of the murder; very flat characters and not much revealed of their personalities, but they seem as if they live for luxury (with the nice beach getaway), and Masson also testifies for Meursault at his trial later on
Monsieur Perez – Maman’s friend at the nursing home
Celeste – restaurant owner who is friends with Meursault; his kind testimony at Meursault’s trial makes Meursault feel very comforted and grateful
The Chaplain – means of Christianity at the prison; tries to convert Meursault, and cannot understand why Meursault does not feel bad for his actions or want to accept his religious efforts; this man is viewed as extremely annoying by Meursault, and he grabs him by the collar and screams in his face as he lashes out his beliefs of indifference and Absurdism
Mnemonic device for characterization:
Says
Thinks
Acts/Interacts
Reacts
Plot in The Stranger
In the Stranger, Meursault’s reputation as a cold human begins when he doesn’t show any human emotion for his mother’s passing. He uses very moderate language to describe his reaction to the telegraph of his mother’s death. He is also very neutral with his vacation after she is dead. His four day weekend was very boring and he just focused on little things and pleasures to keep himself busy, This theme recurs when he dates his girlfriend and he shows little feeling for her aside from sensual pleasures. His explanations as to why he didn’t do certain things such as go to the coffee just because he didn’t want to hear questions about his mother. His friends Masson and Raymond wanted to hang out with Meursault in Masson’s beach house, but a conflict between them and two Arabs erupted. After a fight that resulted in Raymond getting wounded by a knife slash, the three pulled back. Meursault went to the fountain with Raymond’s pistol to cool off, but he met with the Arab, where he shot him without a reasonable excuse. Meursault, without a respectable reason for his manslaughter was pleaded guilty. Before his execution, a preacher wanted to convert him despite his obvious lack of faith. Meursault finally blew the preacher off in an epiphany when he realized the world is meaningless.
THEMES in the novel
1. The Absurdity of Life
Although Camus does not blatantly refer to the notion of absurdity in his novel The Stranger, the qualities of absurdity operate widely throughout the novel, making it a major theme.
- Meursault has no particular reason for his actions, such as his decision to marry Marie and his decision to kill the Arab.
- however, society demands and searches for explanations for Meursault's irrational actions
- the fact that Meursault's actions have no meaning deeply troubles society
- the trial in part 2 of the novel represents society's attempt to manufacture rational order.
- the prosecutor and even Meursault's lawyer try to offer explanations for Meursault's crime that are logical, but THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANCE
- the entire trial exemplifies absurdity
2. The Meaninglessness of Human Life (Existentialism)
- life has no meaning or purpose
- Camus argues that the only certain thing in life is the inevitability of death, and because all humans will eventually die, then all lives are equally meaningless
- Meursault comes to this conclusion after he is sentenced to death. It is after this epiphany that Meursault is able to feel happy and liberated
3. The Importance of the Physical
- Meursault is interested in the physical aspects of the world, way role than he is in the emotional and social.
- throughout the novel, Meursault's attention centers on his own body; his physical relationship with Marie, on the weather, and on other physical attributes of his surroundings
-Ex. The heat during Meursault's mother's funeral causes Meursault much more disturbance than the actual death of his mother
- the sun on the beach causes Meursault to kill the Arab
- Throughout the novel, when emotions and internal things are described they are very vague and plain. But whenever physical things are described they are explained in great, vivid detail.
Tone:
The tone of the Meursault is very detached. The narrator, Meursault experiences no emotions as this is evidence in the first page. The detached tone Meursault maintained this throughout the book even as he murders the Arab. Meursault use of simple structure helps to establish his detached tone. Another one is apathetic since he really does not care of the world around him.
Quotations and Possible AP Prompts!
Quotes
1) “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.”Pg.3 Meursault
· This is the famous first line of the book. It introduces the idea of the simplistic style and the absurdity of life and death.
2) “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.”Pg.17 The Nurse
· This is an example of the absurd and the existential belief that, “one life was as good as another” (pg.41) so it doesn’t matter what you choose.
3) “It occurred to me that one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.”Pg.24 Meursault
· Example of existentialism
4) “I tried my best to please Raymond because I didn’t have any reason not to please him.”Pg.32 Meursault
· This is an example of Meursault’s desire at the beginning of the novel to please others and society.
5) “I knew I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy.”Pg.59 Meursault
· This is the start of Meursault’s understanding and excepting his own beliefs.
6) “He didn’t understand me, and was sort of holding it against me.”Pg.66 Meursault
· The idea of the Absurd
7) “Do you want my life to be meaningless?”Pg.69 The Magistrate
· Example of the Absurd and how people where scared of Meursault’s beliefs more than they were scared of him as a murderer.
8) “everything is true and nothing is true!” Pg.91 The defense attorney
· Existentialism
9) “But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me.” Pg.120 Meursault
· This is Meursault’s epiphany when talking to the Chaplin. This is when he fully understood the idea of the absurd and his existentialist beliefs.
10) “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.” Pg.123 Meursault
· This is the last line of the novel. It shows how he is no longer trying to conform to what society wants. He can now except their cries of hate because he is in his own world with his own rules.
Prompts
2007: In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2005: In Kate Chopin'sThe Awakening(1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess "that outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
2005, Form B: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.