The Stranger Research Paper

In “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, the juxtaposition between Chaplain’s morals and the Meursault's are symbolic of the acceptance and rejection of social constructs like religion, showing how adhering to one’s own values are ultimately more rewarding. Throughout the novel, Meursault is defined his actions driven from prioritizing his physical needs first. This mentality lands Meursault in jail for killing an Arab because he was distracted by the sun. As he is about to approach his death sentence, the Chaplain attempts to get him to convert to religion and become a believer in his final moments, as “he was expressing his certainty that my appeal would be granted, but I was carrying the burden of sin from which I had to free myself. According

In The Stranger, Camus portrays women as unnecessary beings created purely to serve materialistically and satisfy males through the lack of a deep, meaningful, relationship between Meursault and females. Throughout the text, the main character, Meursault, creates closer, more meaningful relationships with other minor characters in the story. However, in his interactions with females in this book, Meursault’s thoughts and actions center on himself and his physical desires, observations, and feelings, rather than devoting his attention to the actual female. Living in Algiers in the 1960s, Meursault originates from a post-modernist time of the decline in emotion. Meursault simply defies the social expectations and societal ‘rules’, as

3. To what extent does Meursault accept his fate? How does he arrive at his final understanding of his situation, and how would you describe that understanding?

Women in The Stranger, help portray and provide proof for Meursault 's lack of emotion and detachment from women. There are three key women in the novel: Meursault 's mother, Marie Cardona, and Raymond’s mistress. When Meursault heard the news of his mother 's passing, he did not mourn her; rather he only went to her funeral because he was excited to get away from his job. Marie Cardona, Meursault 's girlfriend, pronounced her love for him as she asked his hand in marriage, and he replied,

In The Stranger, the author exposes the audience to many unhealthy relationships that may or may not be identified. In part one of The Stranger the novel introduces Salamano, Meursault’s neighbor, and his dog who is in an abusive relationship some may consider physical and verbal. This type of relationship is most remembered throughout the book because it is physical abuse but is it so different from the relationship Meursault had with his deceased mother? Some readers argue that no harm was inflicted onto the mother by Meursault, therefore, cannot be considered an abusive relationship but neglect is still on the table for a factor in their connection. The correlation between Salamano and his dog can be compared to Meursault and his mother in many ways but each link has different details. The relationship Salamano has with his dog is more loving than what Meursault had with his mother.

In The Stranger, Camus portrays women as unnecessary beings created purely to serve materialistically and satisfy males through the lack of a deep, meaningful, relationship between Meursault and females. Throughout the text, the main character, Meursault, creates closer, more meaningful relationships with other minor characters in the story. However, in his interactions with females in this book, Meursault’s thoughts and actions center on himself and his physical desires, observations, and feelings, rather than devoting his attention to the actual female. Living in Algiers in the 1960s, Meursault originates from a post-modernist time of the decline in emotion. Meursault simply defies the social expectations and societal ‘rules’, as

Camus demonstrates the disregarded reason behind the origins of relationships between people to characterize people as selfish. The relationship between Salamano and his dog displays how Salamano as self-centered. When Meursault mentions, “He hadn’t been happy with his wife, but he’d pretty

distant at his mother’s funeral and he was distant with Marie and he was distant with the

Marie, Meursault’s girlfriend, is extremely emotionally attached to Meursault, and this is a weakness. Marie is dependent on Meursault as her source of happiness, even though Meursault does not show that he really cares about Marie. When asked if he loved her, he replied “it didn’t mean anything and that [he] probably didn’t love her” (41). Most people would despise being in a relationship in which they’re unloved by their partner. However, Marie stays with Meursault, even if he does not actually love her. Marie staying in a relationship where she is not even loved, is the result of her being emotionally attached to someone who does not feel the same way about her.

Camus’s emphasis on time accentuates Meursault’s indifference. This indifference reveals that death occurs inevitably, regardless of time. The first thought that the audience reads, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday,” immediately exhibits that when Maman died does not

This excerpt from the novel shows his overall attitude towards the death of his mother, not wanting to see her for the last time before she is gone forever, which leads the reader to question the personality of this man. With the death of Ramone’s dog, Meursault “realized [Ramone] was crying” which in turn led him to “[think] of Mama”. However, he overcomes this thought by telling himself that “[he] had to get up early the next morning” and therefore “[he} went to bed without any dinner”. Camus incorporates the death of Ramone’s dog in order to once again display the strong contrast between Ramone’s reaction to his dog’s death compared to Meursault’s reaction to his mother’s death. Ramone is mourning over a member such as his dog passing away, and on ther other hand Meursault is indifferent towards the death of his mother. This greatly works in the development of the plot of the novel throughout the novel as he is indifferent towards other aspects of society as well and is condemned for his attitude towards his mother when he is put through trial. Keeping this in mind is essential in the understanding of some ideas presented later on in the novel.

He has no initial reaction to the news of her death, and at her funeral service he did not bother to even see her before she was buried. His lack of emotion is evident in the very first lines of the book, “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.” This shows that Meursault is hardly caring for his mother. Society’s standards would result in him to be in absolute mourning and wanting to go as fast as possible to her body. This is not the only example of Meursault’s lack of emotion and care for factors in his life. He does not care for love and marriage after having intercourse with someone; the society standard at this time was to get married if two partners had intercourse. He does not care for promotion and career advancement when his boss offers him a better job opportunity; the standard at that time and right now is to pursue the best career possible. In these scenarios Meursault is living free from the chains, and does whatever he thinks is right to do. Eventually, society rejects him and his ways, and he gets in trouble with the law. He is judged by society and his ways are ridiculed, making Meursault appear to be a monster.

In this interpretation of Simone de Beauvoir 's mother 's horrible decent to death, Beauvoir finds out her Maman is taken to the hospital for a broken bone after a fall, instead the fact that her mother has intestinal cancer is revealed. After many surgeries, her mother’s suffering is only drawn out. The author ponders on the virtue of doing so, in conflict with condescending doctors while empathizing with overburdened nurses. Simone de Beauvoir gives us a reflective and somewhat detached depiction of the final days in the life of her declining mother. Interwoven throughout the novel is the escalating succession of the authors mother dying of cancer, there are also recollections of the relationships of younger years among herself, sister, and parents.

In addition, Meursault cannot find a solid place in society. He lives alone due to the death of his mother. Society cannot accept the manner in which Meursault addresses his mother’s death. Since he thinks that “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, [he doesn’t] know” (Camus 3), society believes that he does not care that his mother dies. Everyone judges him because he does not relate to the rest of the people. Meursault receives immense criticism at his trial concerning his murdering another man. At his trial, Meursault can “feel how much all these people [the jury] hated” (Camus 90) him. The jury does not commend him or even regard him with understanding about his mother’s death. Some people react to death without actually reacting to it; Meursault subconsciously chooses to do so but receives condemnation. Both characters experience isolation from society.

Primarily, Meursault’s aloofness towards the world started to crack after experiencing Maman’s funeral. In the beginning of the novel before the funeral of his mother, Meursault’s desire to “ [see] Maman right away” (Camus, 4) so that he can leave as soon as possible expressed the height of Meursault’s absurdism. Even during the funeral Meursault seemed to care more about “[Perez’s] ruined face”(Camus, 18) than his mother’s casket. However this changed during the sunday after the funeral when Meursault seemed to finally take notice of his mother’s absence from his life stating how his apartment was “just the right size when maman was here”(Camus, 21). This quote is significant because previously Meursault stated “ I didn’t go [to the old