preview

Analysis Of The Book ' The Stranger '

Better Essays

Taisha Pacheco
8/14/2015
Mrs. Bauman
AP lit
Block F
The Stranger The major theme in the Stranger is “absurdism”. In the Stranger, the main settings are: Meursault’s home, the beach where the Arab was murdered, the courthouse, and eventually jail. The Stranger is taken place in Algeria in the 1940’s. The prosecutor characterizes Meursault as a murderer, as a monster. In page one hundred and two, the prosecutor states: “ For if in the course of what has been a long career I have strongly as today have I felt this painful duty made sacred imperative and by the horror I feel when I look into a man’s face and all I see is a monster.” The biggest conflict is the aftermath of the murder of the Arab. Meursault had to go through a conflict with the court process. Everyone was judging him. Everyone in the courtroom was focusing more on his reaction to his own mother’s death rather than the actual crime. The protagonist is Meursault. The antagonist is also Meursault. Meursault is his own worst enemy. Meursault means well, but the “sun” made him murders the Arab. However, Meursault is a murderer. Meursault didn’t defend well his case due to his indifference. Meursault’s faults, views on life, and ability to focus the physical aspects rather than emotional aspects is what made the court turn on him, not his actual crime. The crime is what makes him the antagonist. Despite the fact that taking someone’s life is horrible and immoral, if he wouldn’t have murdered the Arab

Get Access