The Stranger

albert camus' the stranger is notable for many reasons, including the fact that it was the first novel he ever published.

as such, it contains many of the philosophical ideas that he'd been writing about in his essays up to this point.

and camus' questions about the meaning of life and its inherent absurdity were quite relevant in 1942, as war was once again wreaking havoc on europe.

the book is quite cleanly broken up into two parts, the first leading up to a terrible murder, and the second part mostly taken up by the trial that follows.

within this simple structure, camus raises some strong points about the arbitrary nature of society's ever-changing values, and the hypocrisies that can be found in the way we judge those who don't adhere to them.

if that sounds like a lot, don't worry.

in the six sections that follow, we're going to walk through the story and end on a section of analysis that will underline the important points.

a frenchman in algiers the stranger has one of the most recognisable openings in 20th century literature.

it begins with the words, maman died today, or maybe yesterday, i don't know.

this is not only an attention-grabbing start, it also says a lot about our narrator and central character, meursault.

meursault is a frenchman living in algiers.

from the start, his reaction to his mother's death is marked by one thing in particular, indifference, which is a main theme of the book.

to put it another way, meursault receives the news of his mother's death with a detached acceptance.

a while ago, meursault had his mother put in a nursing home.

now, uncertain of the exact day she passed, he arranges to attend the funeral more out of obligation than grief.

once he arrives at the nursing home, the director informs meursault of his mother's wish for a religious burial, a detail that surprises him since his mother had never shown any interest in religion.

when offered the chance to see her body one last time, meursault declines.

he does, however, agree to a cup of coffee and shares a cigarette with the caretaker.

as night falls, maman's friends arrive and hold a silent vigil.

the following morning, the director allows thomas perez, one of maman's close friends, to join the funeral procession, mentioning that she considered him her fiancé.

all along the trip to the nursing home, as well as during the procession to the cemetery, meursault appears to be most affected by immediate concerns.

in particular, he seems defeated by the hot summer weather and his exhaustion from travelling.

the next day, meursault returns to algiers.

at the beach, he encounters marie, a former colleague with whom he shares a brief romantic history.

he asks marie to go to a movie later that evening.

she agrees, and they go to see a comedy.

afterward, marie and meursault spend the night together.

spending sunday in his apartment, meursault settles into an old routine of mundane activities.

he finds solace in small rituals, like cutting out newspaper ads and observing life from his balcony.

he doesn't really like sundays.

they are monotonous, boring.

when he realises that monday will start the week all over again, he realises that his mother's death hasn't really changed anything.

a stranger and his neighbours after meursault's aimless sunday, we are introduced to his neighbours.

one is salomano, a widowed older man who routinely berates and abuses his poor mangy old dog.

then there's raymond sante, a notoriously unsavoury character who engages meursault in conversation.

despite rumours surrounding raymond's poor reputation, meursault finds his company intriguing and agrees to join him for some sausage and wine.

he isn't excited to spend time with this neighbour, but he also can't identify a reason why he shouldn't accept the offer.

after all, it would save him the trouble of making his own dinner.

in his neighbour's apartment, meursault notices that raymond's hand is wrapped in a dirty bandage.

it turns out his neighbour was recently in a fight with the brother of his mistress.

raymond explains that he believes the woman is cheating on him, and it soon becomes clear that meursault has been invited so that raymond may get his advice, and perhaps his help, in this situation.

meursault, indifferent yet curious, listens to raymond's story and his plan to write a letter.

a letter that would lure the mistress back into his arms, and into a position where raymond would be able to get revenge by spitting in her face.

raymond asks meursault if he would mind composing this deceitful letter.

raymond isn't very good with words.

meursault doesn't mind, and raymond asserts that the two are now pals.

when meursault is told the name of the mistress, he realises that the woman is of arabic descent.

the letter serves its purpose.

the next day, when marie is over at meursault's apartment, they both hear the disturbing sounds of screaming and violence coming from up in raymond's apartment.

raymond is beating his mistress, and the terrible screams have brought the police to the building.

later that afternoon, raymond takes meursault out for a walk and asks him if he'd be a witness for him, and tell the police that the woman he'd beaten had been cheating on him.

it doesn't bother meursault, so he agrees.

later, meursault encounters the widower salomano, who tells him that his dog had gotten loose and wandered off.

salomano is truly heartbroken.

even though he is often seen beating and yelling at the dog, he describes the many years raising the dog with deep fondness.

he tells meursault about how he'd diligently apply the dog's skin medication every day.

a short time later, raymond calls meursault at work to invite him and marie to spend a day at a beach house with another couple he knows.

meursault agrees to come along.

back at his apartment, marie asks meursault if he would like to marry her.

once again, he responds with apathy and indifference.

but if it would make her happy, then sure, he'd marry her.

marie has to admit that meursault is a strange man, but she seems to find his peculiarities appealing.

standing on the beach, staring at the sky as raymond, meursault and marie are starting their journey to the beach, raymond motions for meursault to look across the street.

a group of arab men are standing by a tobacco shop and one of them is the brother of his mistress.

raymond assures them it should be fine and they continue walking.

they take a bus toward the outskirts of algiers, toward the beach, and finally meet the other couple, a man named masson and his wife, at the beach house.

they all enjoy a swim together as well as a nice home-cooked meal.

after, the men go for a walk together and realize that the arab men have followed them.

a fight breaks out and raymond is badly cut by a knife.

once blood is drawn, the arab men run off and masson takes raymond to a nearby doctor.

meursault returns to the beach house to explain what's happened to marie and masson's wife.

when raymond returns, bandaged up, he's in a bad mood.

raymond decides to go for a walk and meursault follows.

they spot the arab men sitting on some rocks along the shore and raymond hands meursault a gun.

he tells him, if one of them draws a knife, shoot.

meursault agrees, but as they approach, the arab men retreat and disappear behind the rocks.

raymond decides to head back to the bungalow.

meursault follows him back for a while, but as raymond walks up the long wooden stairs to the house, meursault stops.

the heat has become overwhelming, the stairs are too much, the thought of talking to anyone pains him, so he turns around and heads back to the beach.

as he walks along the water, the sun is bearing down on him oppressively, making him delirious.

he longs for some cool shade, and that's when he notices that the closest shady spot next to a cool spring is being occupied by one of the arab men.

when the man notices meursault, he sits up, and meursault instinctively reaches for the gun that's still inside his jacket pocket.

he's in agony.

the sun is beating down on him, sweat is building up on his forehead, his cheeks are burning.

delirious, meursault is drawn forward to the shade and continues to move toward the arab man, even though he knows it's a stupid thing to do.

the arab man reveals his knife, and just as the steel blade catches the glint of the sun, a bead of salty sweat finally drops into meursault's eyes, stinging his vision like a bolt of fire.

at this moment, meursault takes out the gun, shooting the man once, and then, after he's fallen to the ground, four more times.

as he puts it, it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.

and so ends the first section of the book.

the prisoner as the second part begins, meursault has been arrested, and the authorities are trying to figure out the details of what happened.

as always, meursault is honest in answering questions, but his dispassionate, indifferent responses are met with frustration and bewilderment.

this is most apparent in his interactions with the young, eager lawyer who's been assigned to his case.

at first, the lawyer is optimistic, assuring meursault that there's a good chance this case will go in his favor.

yet, when the lawyer informs him that the prosecutors have been investigating his private life and are interested in the recent death of his mother, things begin to take a turn.

the lawyer is deeply discouraged by his client's unwillingness to go along with the story that he was saddened by his mother's passing.

meursault can only be honest and tell him that, during the funeral proceedings, he'd been more affected by the heat and his own exhaustion than by his mother's death.

besides, what do the loss of his mother and the shooting have to do with each other?

quickly, the lawyer understands that his client will not be easy to deal with and leaves in a huff.

meursault would rather he hadn't angered his lawyer, but he also doesn't understand why they're making such a big deal about his mother.

after his lawyer, meursault is visited by the investigating magistrate, who asks him to run through the chain of events once more.

the main issue seems to be a question of why meursault had shot the man four more times after he was already on the ground.

in his mind, meursault pictures the burning sun and the sand, but he doesn't say anything.

the magistrate then raises the issue of god and tries to get meursault to repent.

but meursault explains that he doesn't believe in god, which only makes the magistrate more frustrated.

he asks if meursault feels sorry for what has happened.

but meursault can only say that at this moment he feels more annoyed than sorry.

on his way out, the magistrate calls him monsieur antichrist.

about a year passes as meursault awaits his trial.

when marie comes to visit, he is grateful to be provided with a fleeting glimpse of normalcy.

at first, she is hopeful that he'll be released and they can still get married.

meursault isn't so sure.

as the months pass by and the days blur together, marie's visits taper off.

some things, like not being able to smoke cigarettes, are difficult to cope with at first, but he eventually gets used to many of the harsh realities of prison.

he compares it to being stuck in the hollowed-out trunk of a tree in the forest.

the silence at night is one of the most difficult things to adjust to.

as he looks into the mirror, he sees that his face has become relentlessly stern and solemn.

even when he tries to smile, it doesn't seem to change.

the trial after a year in prison, meursault's trial finally begins.

as he's brought into the courtroom, he's surprised by how many people there are.

unbeknownst to him, his case has become a popular item in the local newspapers.

he's also surprised by how oppressive the heat is.

the windows are closed, making the air thick and stifling.

as he sits in the dock, surrounded by curious eyes, he feels like a passenger on a crowded streetcar being scrutinised by strangers.

as the proceedings begin, a series of witnesses take the stand, and we hear the events of the first part of the book play out once again, this time under the intense scrutiny of the lawyers.

the director of his mother's nursing home paints an unflattering picture of an indifferent son who didn't cry or show any remorse for his mother's passing.

the nursing home's caretaker, who shared a coffee and cigarette with meursault, is also brought up by the prosecution to give evidence of the defendant's cold indifference.

then marie is brought to the stand, and made to recount their activities on the day after meursault's mother's funeral.

going to the movies to see a comedy, and returning to his apartment afterward, are depicted by the prosecution as further evidence of meursault's lack of decency.

marie pleads that meursault is not a bad man, but her cries fall on deaf ears.

his neighbour, salamano, testifies on the defendant's behalf, as does raymond, but the prosecution does a convincing job of painting raymond as a small-time criminal of ill repute.

despite his lawyer's efforts to defend him, the prosecutor's accusations hang heavy in the air, painting meursault as a man consumed by vice and devoid of morals.

the prosecutor even suggests that meursault lacks a soul and is a danger to society.

for much of the trial, meursault comments on the absurdity of watching people argue over his character without any input from him.

he truly is a passive witness to his own fate.

but at the end, meursault is given an opportunity to speak, though it doesn't go well.

he appears flippant as he tries to explain about the sun and the heat at the moment of the shooting.

his pained attempts at explaining himself only result in ridicule from the courtroom.

as the trial reaches its conclusion, meursault is convicted of murder and sentenced to death, a public execution by guillotine.

the abruptness of the verdict leaves him stunned, and he is led away without emotion or protest.

the conclusion of the book is marked by a meeting between meursault and the prison chaplain.

once again, another man is trying to appeal to a spiritual side that meursault simply does not have.

if there was any doubt as to whether our narrator might seek comfort in god now that he has been sentenced to death, it is completely dismissed.

as he puts it, he only has a small amount of time left, he doesn't want to waste it on god.

faced with a persistent argument by the chaplain, meursault eventually erupts in anger, which is the first time he has shown such emotion.

the chaplain wants to pray for meursault, and he wants to impose the certainty and meaning of religion on the condemned man's situation.

but meursault has had enough.

he grabs the chaplain by the collar and tells him that his certainty is worthless.

he believes that the chaplain is the one who is living like a dead man.

meursault is already certain of his life and his death, and that is enough.

he is neither better nor worse than the chaplain, just as a mangy old dog is neither better nor worse than a spouse.

he tells him that everyone has been chosen for the same fate, so nothing matters.

when the chaplain leaves, the prisoner feels at peace.

he thinks of his mother for the first time in a long while.

he recalls that she had taken on a new fiancé not long before she passed.

so close to death, she too must have felt free and ready to live again.

no one should cry about that.

meursault also feels free, unburdened by hope and open to the gentle indifference of the world.

he hopes there will be a large crowd at the guillotine, greeting him with cries of hate.

analysis welcome to the last section, where we'll dig into some of the themes of camus' the stranger.

as you can probably imagine, the stranger has been scrutinised and debated pretty much non-stop since its publication.

two of the biggest themes that tend to come up are absurdism and existentialism.

existentialism is all about exploring the possible meaning, values and purpose of human existence.

people like camus, as well as other philosophers like kierkegaard and jean-paul sartre, have pointed out that there tends to be an inherent level of absurdity to human existence because there is this innate desire for humans to find meaning in a world that is ultimately indifferent to such concerns.

a good shorthand for absurdism is the myth of sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill over and over again for no real purpose.

one of camus' first major works was an essay called the myth of sisyphus, which was published in 1942, the same year as the stranger.

in the stranger, absurdism is on clear display during the trial.

meursault has killed a man, and he is willing to pay the price for this, but the trial is all about his character and how his personality doesn't jibe with the societal norms of his community.

he's not being condemned because of an act of deadly violence against another man.

he's being condemned because other people find it unacceptable that he didn't cry at his mother's funeral.

the values that society considers acceptable and unacceptable change over time, and can differ from one culture to the next.

the seemingly arbitrary way in which we decide upon these values, and the fact that we're all too willing to condemn or ostracize those who don't follow along, is at the heart of camus' absurdist philosophy.

now even though meursault ends up telling the chaplain that nothing matters, camus was not a nihilist.

meursault finds freedom in the greater meaninglessness of life, and that one can finally, truly live when the absurdity of it all is embraced.

the short and concise way in which albert camus raises all these heady questions about human existence is why the stranger is still considered a landmark book of philosophical importance to this day.

the main takeaway of this chapter to the stranger by albert camus is that meursault is a detached and apathetic man living in french algiers.

the narrative unfolds with his emotionally indifferent response to his mother's death, his casual involvement in a violent altercation, and his subsequent trial and conviction for murder.

throughout the novel meursault exhibits a profound sense of existential detachment, rejecting societal norms and struggling to find meaning in a world he perceives as absurd.

the book's central message revolves around existential themes such as the meaninglessness of existence and the absurdity of our hierarchy of values.

through meursault's existential journey, camus invites readers to confront fundamental questions about the nature of existence, morality, and the human condition.

thanks so much for listening, and see you in the next chapter.