“L’Étranger” (The Stranger or The Outsider) is a 1942 novel by French author Albert Camus. Though it is a work of fiction, it is often cited as an example of Camus’ philosophy of Absurdism. The novel has profoundly impacted millions of readers. Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed “the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.”
The Protagonist Meursault
Meursault, an indifferent French Algerian, is the protagonist of “The Stranger.” The novel begins with the famous lines:
“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.”
From the start, we see Meursault’s emotional indifference and detached personality. An aspect often lost in translation is his use of the child’s word “Maman” instead of the more adult “Mother.” Camus noted that “the curious feeling the son has for his mother constitutes all his sensibility.”
Meursault declines to see his mother’s body, drinks coffee, and smokes cigarettes during the vigil, displaying indifference to her death. He returns to Algiers and resumes his life, including a relationship with his former co-worker, Marie. Despite her questions about love and marriage, he remains indifferent, though they become engaged.
The Climax of the Novel
The climax of the novel occurs during a trip to a beach house. Under the oppressive sun, Meursault is drawn into a confrontation and kills an Arab man. He is arrested and judged not just for the murder but for his lack of conventional emotions, particularly regarding his mother’s death. In prison, he is tormented by isolation but eventually adapts.
During his trial, Meursault’s atheism and emotional indifference lead to his being viewed as a monster, and he is nicknamed “Monsieur Antichrist.” His refusal to conform to societal norms and his sincerity in expressing only what he feels are central to the novel’s exploration of authenticity and the Absurd.
Meursault’s statement that he killed the Arab “because of the sun” is laughed at, highlighting the irrationality of his act. He is sentenced to death, reflecting the Absurdist theme that life is meaningless and death inevitable. While awaiting execution, he rejects the Chaplain’s attempts to convert him, embracing a meaningless, physical world.
Themes of the Novel
The major themes of the book include the importance of the physical world, the meaninglessness of human life, and the irrationality of the universe. Meursault is more interested in physical sensations than social or emotional connections. The novel illustrates the Absurd as the conflict between seeking meaning and the inability to find it in an indifferent universe.
Camus summarized “The Stranger” by stating, “In our society, any man who does not weep at his mother’s funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death.” The novel ultimately shows that acceptance of life’s absurdity can lead to happiness. Meursault finds peace in the realization of the universe’s indifference, feeling happiness in his acceptance of the inevitable.