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The Stranger

Albert camus.

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Albert Camus's The Stranger . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Stranger: Introduction

The stranger: plot summary, the stranger: detailed summary & analysis, the stranger: themes, the stranger: quotes, the stranger: characters, the stranger: symbols, the stranger: theme wheel, brief biography of albert camus.

Historical Context of The Stranger

Other books related to the stranger.

• Full Title: The Stranger
• When Written: 1941?-1942
• Where Written: France
• When Published: 1942
• Literary Period: Modernist
• Genre: Philosophical novel
• Setting: Algiers, Algeria
• Climax: Meursault shoots the Arab.
• Antagonist: Raymond
• Point of View: First person (Meursault is the narrator.)

Extra Credit for The Stranger

An Existential Novel? Though The Stranger is often categorized as an existential novel, Camus himself rejected this label. Camus’ philosophy of Absurdism resembles Existentialism in many respects (both philosophies, for example, believe in the essential meaninglessness of life) but Camus was fiercely committed to human morality and dignity, ideas many Existentialists discarded.

Alternate Translations. The key sentence in Meursault’s final acceptance of death has been translated in several different ways, each of which shifts the line’s meaning. The edition on which this guide is based was translated by Matthew Ward and published in 1988. It translates the line: "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world." The first English edition, translated by Stuart Gilbert and published in 1946, translated this line, "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe." The second English edition, translated by Joseph Laredo and first published in 1982, translated the line, "I laid my heart open to the gentle indifference of the universe."

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Plot summary

Context and analysis.

• What is Albert Camus known for?
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The Stranger

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• Table Of Contents

The Stranger , enigmatic first novel by Albert Camus , published in French as L’Étranger in 1942. It was published as The Outsider in England and as The Stranger in the United States .

The title character of The Stranger is Meursault, a Frenchman who lives in Algiers (a pied-noir ). The novel is famous for its first lines: “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.” They capture Meursault’s anomie briefly and brilliantly. After this introduction, the reader follows Meursault through the novel’s first-person narration to Marengo, where he sits vigil at the place of his mother’s death. Despite the expressions of grief around him during his mother’s funeral, Meursault does not show any outward signs of distress. This removed nature continues throughout all of Meursault’s relationships, both platonic and romantic .

Raymond, an unsavoury friend, is eventually arrested for assaulting his mistress and asks Meursault to vouch for him to the police. Meursault agrees without emotion. Raymond soon encounters a group of men, including the brother of his mistress. The brother, referred to as “the Arab,” slashes Raymond with a knife after Raymond strikes the man repeatedly. Meursault happens upon the altercation and shoots the brother dead, not out of revenge but, he says, because of the disorienting heat and vexing brightness of the sun, which blinds him as it reflects off the brother’s knife. This murder is what separates the two parts of the story.

The novel’s second part begins with Meursault’s pretrial questioning, which focuses primarily on the accused’s callousness toward his mother’s funeral and his murder of “the Arab.” His lack of remorse, combined with his lack of sadness expressed toward his mother, works against him and earns him the nickname “Monsieur Antichrist” from the examining magistrate. During the trial itself, Meursault’s character witnesses do more harm than good, because they highlight Meursault’s apparent apathy and disengagement. Eventually, Meursault is found guilty of murder with malice aforethought and is sentenced to death by guillotine . As he waits for his impending death, he obsesses over the possibility of his appeal being accepted. A chaplain visits Meursault against his wishes, only to be greeted by Meursault’s intense atheistic and nihilistic views. In a cathartic explosion of rage, Meursault brings the chaplain to tears. This, however, brings Meursault peace and helps him to accept his death with open arms.

• Albert Camus : Learn more about the French author, philosopher, and Nobel laureate who wrote The Stranger .
• Existentialism : Camus denied being an existentialist, but it’s revealing to compare his views to this philosophical movement.
• The Myth of Sisyphus : Explore Camus’s philosophical essay on the absurdity of life and the search for meaning—and how it connects to The Stranger .
• Occupied Algeria : Gain a deeper understanding of the conflicts between French colonizers and native Algerians that are The Stranger ’s historical context .
• French-Algerian literature : Assia Djebar , Kateb Yacine , and Rachid Boudjedra have written extensively about Algerian experiences of the complex relationship between France and Algeria.
• Other mid-century French writers : Find out how Camus’s novel was in conversation with writings by his contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre , Simone de Beauvoir , and Jean Genet .

This AI-generated content has been reviewed by Britannica’s editors.

Camus utilized The Stranger as a platform to explore absurdity, a concept central to his writings and at the core of his treatment of questions about the meaning of life. However, Camus did not identify himself as a philosopher. In fact, he abjured “armchair” philosophy and argued that sitting around and thinking was not enough. One needed to live life as well. He also did not identify himself as an existentialist . He agreed with some proponents of existentialist thought that life has no inherent meaning, but he criticized others for their pursuit of personal meaning.

Camus’s concept of the absurd instead implored people to accept life’s lack of meaning and rebel by rejoicing in what life does offer. Elements of this philosophy can be seen in Meursault, as he refuses to behave as if there is meaning where there is none—or, as Camus himself put it in a preface to The Stranger , Meursault “does not play the game.” Society thus feels threatened and cuts off Meursault’s head. Similar themes can be seen in Camus’s essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe ( The Myth of Sisyphus ), also published in 1942.

Camus wrote The Stranger from a place of tragedy and suffering. His father had died in World War I , and the unfolding carnage of World War II forced a questioning of life and its meaning. Camus had also witnessed mistreatment of native Algerians during the French occupation of Algeria , which had begun in the first half of the 19th century and, after World War I, was opposed by a growing nationalist movement. This conflict can be seen specifically in Meursault’s killing of “the Arab,” the only name he uses to refer to Raymond’s mistress’s brother.

The murder has been read by some as a metaphor for the treatment of Algerian Muslims by the colonizing French. Camus published The Stranger at a time when Algerians were demanding political autonomy with increased forcefulness; although France did extend some rights during the 1940s, ongoing conflicts and failed French promises of more independence culminated in the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954.

“The Stranger” by Albert Camus Essay

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Introduction

Brief plot overview, the novel analysis.

The Stranger is considered to be a novel written by Albert Camus in 1942. This work is regarded to be the embodiment of philosophical concepts developed in the previous century. Many scholars refer the novel to existentialism direction, though the author never considered himself the representative of this branch. It is necessary to underline the fact that The Stranger depicts the author’s world perception, who treated it as indifferent and absurd. Nevertheless, Albert Camus managed to show the narrator’s attempts to rebel against personal indifference to obtain the best human values and virtues.

The Stranger is dedicated to the story of Meursault, a Frenchman and a story protagonist, who is characterized as an innately passive and emotionally detached person. His killing of an Arab man is perceived as a burst of irrational action. The investigation carried out by the police, led to Meursault’s execution for his disability to express proper feelings for the character’s dead mother, but not for the murder he committed. It is necessary to underline the fact that the novel is logically divided into two parts, one of which tells the story before the murder, and the other reflects Meursault’s life after his crime.

The Stranger appeared to be a successful philosophical masterpiece, bringing numerous criticism and responses on the part of scholars. The central concept of the novel is dedicated to the symbolization of ‘absurd’ as the key element accompanying a person’s life and impacting the formation of human behavior and actions in society. Camus demonstrates the idea that human existence is not evaluated through its rational meaning. Nevertheless, the difficulties connected with this author’s concept identification make people unintentionally create artificial rational structures, providing a sense for their lives. The Stranger allows the readers to evaluate the concept of ‘absurdity’ on the example of the narrator’s style of life and behavior.

Irrationality is symbolized throughout the whole novel; it characterizes Meursault’s connection with the internal and external world. Unreasonable thoughts and decisions made by the protagonist, such as marriage and crime, can not be characterized as rational.

‘For the first time maybe, I really thought I was going to get married’ (Camus and Stuart, 50)

It is necessary to underline the idea that the author strived to make the readers think of their mortality and life meaning. Analyzing the characters’ behavior one can stress the idea, that people live in constant search for the meaning of existence and actions, but very often we forget, that there is nothing to be searched for in reality. All the actions are treated as unreasonable making Meursault be a stranger among others. (Shoham, 54)

The Stranger is a novel translated from French, having several translated copies with considerable differences in interpretations. Thus, very often the novel is translated as ‘outsider’, identifying the character as the one, living outside the society. This idea is different from the one, which the author strives to demonstrate. Meursault is a symbolic representative of irrational evil, living in the society and feeling its pressure in search of meaning. Nevertheless, the second part of the novel is dedicated to social absurd embodiment through the trial and attempts to find the meaning in Meursault’s actions. (Kaplan, and Skolnick, 39)

One more aspect analyzed in the novel is dedicated to the importance of the physical environment. The Stranger cannot be called emotional or expressive, because its protagonist discloses no feelings or worrying about emotional life aspects. All the relationships the character has with Marie and her family is based on physical satisfaction, rather than moral happiness. For example, the case of his mother’s death is not so oppressive for Meursault, as funeral procession heat, causing physical inconvenience; the same reason appeared to be the key motivation for Arab killing, caused by character’s sufferings under the sunlight.

‘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.’ (Camus and Stuart, 3)

One of the central novel motifs is observation, showing how people live in a state of constant watching each other’s actions and behavior. The evaluation of absurdity and meaningless is reached through social observation centralized in the story. For example, the physical inconvenience of the character is caused by the sun watching, and Meursault’s execution is the result of the jury observation. The idea of depicting human life in search of meaning is based on the concept of watching and analyzing external and internal human activities. (Morris, 117)

The Stranger can be analyzed as a valuable contribution to philosophical thought development through Camus’ successful presentation of human life in the modern world. The central idea depicted by the author gives an opportunity to understand absurdity of our meaning search, instead of creating the meaning with our hands. It is necessary to stress the point that the novel can be regarded as real masterpiece to be read by the students for the purpose of watching their order of life and balancing physical and moral values.

Camus, Albert and Stuart, Gilbert. The Stranger . Vintage Books, 1954.

Kaplan, John and Skolnick, Jerome. Criminal justice: introductory cases and materials . Foundation Press, 1982.

Morris, Donald. Opportunity: optimizing life’s chances . Prometheus Books, 2006.

Shoham, Giora. Society and the absurd: a sociology of conflicting encounters. Sussex Academic Press, 2006.

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The Stranger Themes

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The Stranger

By albert camus.

• The Stranger Summary

The famous lines introducing Meursault 's mother open the novel. He is not sure whether she had died today or yesterday since the telegram was not specific. Furthermore he does not really think it matters. He asks for two days off and takes the bus to the home he had put his mother in when he could no longer afford to take care of her. He sleeps on the way there. At the home, Meursault meets the director and the caretaker and is taken to see his mother. He chooses not to look at her and sits by her side as friends come to mourn during the night. He chats with the caretaker, naps, smokes, and has some coffee. In the morning, the funeral procession walks the hour into town for the ceremony. The sun is scorching and Meursault feels more oppressed by the heat than sad over his mother's death. Her fiancé Thomas Pérez however is in tears and must struggle to keep up by taking shortcuts. After the funeral, Meursault catches the bus home and looks forward to sleeping twelve hours.

He wakes up the next day and realizes that it is a weekend and is not surprised his boss was annoyed. He gets up late and then decides to go to the beach where he loves to swim. Once there he sees a woman he used to be attracted to at work, Marie Cardona . They are instantly attracted and agree to see a movie later that night. Marie is surprised to hear that Meursault's mother died only yesterday. That night they see a comedy and go back to Meursault's. She is gone the next morning before Meursault gets up. He remembers that he hates Sundays because they are boring so he takes a nap. Finally he gets up, makes lunch and settles on the balcony to watch people pass. Different crowds move by throughout the day including families, soccer fans, and moviegoers. He eats dinner standing up, watches some more, and then moves inside when it gets colder and darker.

A work day follows. His boss, trying to be kind, asks about his mother but is relieved when Meursault says his mother was about sixty when she died. Meursault has a great deal of work to do before lunch. On the break, he and Emmanuel jump onto a moving fire truck. Meursault eats lunch, takes a nap, and returns to work. Arriving home after work, he runs into Salamano and his dog and thinks of the routine the ridiculous pair always follow. Meursault sees Raymond next who invites him over for dinner. They talk about Raymond's fight with an Arab and then, his cheating girlfriend. He asks Meursault to write a letter to her for him to make her feel bad about what she did. Then he can punish her when she comes back to him. Meursault agrees to write the letter because he is there and Raymond seems to like it very much and says they are pals.

Meursault works hard the following week and attends the movies twice with Emmanuel. On Saturday he sees Marie and they go swimming. He admires her beauty. They frolic in the water and then hurry back to the apartment to have sex. She stays for the morning and asks if he loves her. He says no. They are interrupted by the loud fight between Raymond and his girlfriend. They go watch as Raymond is beating the woman but Meursault does not want to call the police since he does not like them. The cops break it up, slapping Raymond when he will not remove a cigarette from his mouth. Marie and Meursault make lunch but Marie no longer has much of an appetite. After Marie leaves, Raymond comes over and they agree the woman received her punishment. They go out to drink and play pool. They meet Salamano on the way back. He has lost his dog and is upset. Meursault suggests that he check the pound where he could pay a fee for the dog. Salamano is outraged at the idea of paying. He later gets the rest of the details on the pound from Meursault and then goes home. Meursault can hear him crying. He thinks of Maman and goes to bed without dinner.

Meursault receives a call from Raymond at the office which annoys. He is invited by Raymond to bring Marie to his friend's house and told that an Arab relative of Raymond's woman has been following Raymond. Soon after, Meursault's boss offers him a job where he would be transferred to Paris. Meursault admits he is happy enough where he is and the boss berates his lack of ambition. That evening he sees Marie who asks if he will marry her. Meursault says he will if she wants but still says he does not love her. Marie still wants to marry him. She is excited about the prospect of Paris but he thinks it is dirty. Meursault eats dinner alone at Céleste 's until he is joined by a jerky robot-like woman. He follows her when she leaves but loses interest. Back at the building, he finds Salamano waiting. His dog was not at the pound and he tells Meursault stories about him and the dog. He does not want another. He also mentions that he is sorry about Maman and understands why he put her in a home though many neighbors do not.

Marie has difficulty waking Meursault on the day they are to join Raymond and his friend. Once outside they see a group of Arabs, like Raymond had mentioned, across the street. They get on the bus for the beach and are not followed. The cottage belongs to Masson and his Parisian wife whom Marie befriends. Meursault is struck by the idea of getting married. Marie and Mersault enjoy swimming together. Meursault then naps on the beach before playing in the water more with Marie. He devours his lunch and then takes a walk with the other men. They run into two Arabs on the beach and Raymond and Masson fight them. Raymond gets cut and needs to be stitched. When they return, he takes off down the beach again. Meursault follows him though he wanted to be left alone. They find the Arab but Meursault convinces Raymond to give him his gun. Nothing happens and the men walk back. Meursault is affected by the sun and heat and goes back onto the beach. He finds himself near the Arab again and is drawn closer. With the heat and glare of the knife, Meursault shoots the gun once and then four more times, killing the Arab.

Part Two of the novel takes place after Meursault's arrest. He is taken to prison and held there. The magistrate gives him a lawyer although Meursault does not think it is necessary. He is taken into an interrogation room with a single lamp like in books he has read. It seems like a game but the magistrate is reasonable. His lawyer visits him the next day and is disturbed that he will not agree to say that he repressed his natural feelings on the day of Maman's funeral. Meursault considers stopping him to explain but is too lazy. The magistrate calls him again and is bothered by the part in his testimony where he hesitated before firing the last four shots. As Meursault cannot explain why, the magistrate takes out a crucifix and attempts to make Meursault repent so God will forgive him. Meursault does not follow his reasoning nor does he believe in God. Frustrating the magistrate further, Meursault says he is more annoyed than sorry about the crime he has committed. Their discussions after this time are more cordial and Meursault remembers little else he enjoyed as much as these moments between him and the magistrate.

The same eleven months spent talking to the magistrate are also lived daily in the prison. Meursault does not like to talk about this much. Marie visits him once and the visiting room is very crowded, bright, loud, and hot. Meursault finds it hard to concentrate on their conversation, picking up pieces of the mostly Arab conversations around. Marie looks beautiful and Meursault looks at her body more than he listens to her voice. Meursault is hot and dizzy. He almost leaves but wants to take advantage of Marie being there. Soon after she visits, he receives a letter from Marie saying she is not allowed to visit any longer because she is not his wife. Still this time is not so hard for Meursault. He has free man thoughts and urges for awhile, such as the desire to go swimming, but these only last for a few months. He realizes that he can get used to anything. The first months are especially hard because of his desire for women and cigarettes. Women's faces fill his room with desire but they also help to pass the time. He chews on pieces of wood to get over smoking and realizes that the only way to really punish him is by taking away these freedoms. The main problem he faces is killing time. To combat time, he catalogs every item in his apartment gaining more and more detail each time he visualizes its entirety. He learns to sleep two thirds of the day . He finds a scrap of a newspaper crime story about a tragic Czech family and reads it over every day. These items and his memory allow him to ease time. He loses a sense of all but yesterday and today. Meursault realizes that he has even begun talking aloud to himself and that his reflection refuses to smile, but he is not at all unhappy.

The year until the next summer passes quickly and it is time for Meursault's trial. At the courthouse, people cram into to see a spectacle and Meursault realizes that it is he. He feels as if he is being judged. The room is very hot and Meursault feels dizzy. The press has built up his story making the interest and crowds larger than expected. One young reporter in particular examines Meursault thoroughly and the robot woman is also seen in the audience watching intently. His examination is first and he agrees with the judge's reading of his statement. He is irritated by the questions on Maman. After a break, the prosecution's witness are called. The director and caretaker of the home testify on Meursault's lack of sympathy toward his mother at the funeral. Pérez testifies that he could neither see Meursault cry or not cry through his own tears. The defense is then called and Céleste is the first witness. He states that the murder was bad luck. Marie testifies about the day they met following Maman's burial which is turned by the prosecution into a dubious liaison too close to his mother's death. Masson states that Meursault is an honest man and Salamano pleads with the jury to understand. Raymond is the last witness and testifies that Meursault was at the beach by chance and the Arab had hated Raymond. The prosecutor says Meursault is on trial for burying Maman with a crime in his heart. Meursault leaves the courthouse and smells the summer air. He remembers the days when he was happy, noting that his path could have gone either way.

The lawyer's summations follow the next day and Meursault is interested to see what they will say about him. As both speeches are very long, Meursault finds it difficult to pay attention. The prosecutor seems to dwell on his crime being premeditated. Meursault finds the recreation of events plausible and sees how he could be thought of as Raymond's accomplice. Meursault notes how odd it is that his intelligence is used against him. The prosecutor then spends a long time on Meursault's treatment of Maman. Meursault admits to himself that the prosecutor is correct that he is not able to show remorse. The prosecutor ends by declaring that Meursault's soul is empty and that he is a monster who has paved the way for the parricide trial following. Meursault replies that he had no intention of killing the Arab. When asked why he did it, he does not know and can only blurt out that it was because of the sun. The defense lawyer's summation is not as skilled Meursault finds, especially since he does not address Maman's funeral. Meursault does not like how his lawyer replaces his name with "I" and feels further excluded from the entire process. The pointlessness of the trial depresses him and he wishes he could go sleep. Meursault is made to wait in another room as the jury decides and pronounces the verdict. He is brought in for the sentencing and hears that he is going to be decapitated in the name of the French people. He has nothing to say.

In his prison cell, Meursault denies the chaplain three times. He wishes he had paid more attention to executions so that he could think of one possibility where the criminal had escaped the inevitability of the process. He finds the absoluteness of the situation to be arrogant. He remembers Maman's story of his father going to an execution and now understands why. He wishes that he could visit all of the executions from now on. This wish is too painful though since there is such little chance of his freedom. He imagines new penal codes which would allow the condemned to have one chance in ten of escaping his fate. He realizes that his concept of the guillotine has always been skewed. The two things he thinks about most though are dawn and his appeal. Meursault knows that the executioners would come right before dawn so he waits up every night. Although he knows everyone will die, the thought of his appeal is maddening. He must convince himself of its impossibility in order to introduce to himself the chance of a pardon, which when faced rationally, gives him an hour of calm.

He thinks of Marie for the first time in a while at such a moment and the chaplain comes in. Asked why he has refused him, Meursault answers that he does not believe in God. Meursault tries to convince the chaplain that he has little time to devote to other thoughts and the chaplain's words do not interest him. The chaplain is surprised to learn that Meursault truly believes there is nothing after death. He points out that every sufferer has found the face of God in the prison stones. Meursault has looked only for Marie and not found her. The chaplain refuses to accept Meursault's behavior. Meursault snaps, yelling at him that he does wish for another life but one where he could remember the present one. He attacks the chaplain as the one who is dead inside, waiting for something after life. Meursault realizes that he has been right all along. He had lived his life one way but it did not matter and no one's life, death, or love made a difference to him. Every life is worth the same and all are privileged.. The guards tear the chaplain away and Meursault falls asleep. When he wakes, it is night. The sirens blast just before dawn and Meursault thinks of Maman. He understands her need to live life all over again, explaining why she took a fiancé so close to death. No one has a right to cry over her. He opens himself to the indifference of the world and finds it to be a brother. He is happy. To feel less alone, he only hopes that a crowd of haters will welcome him at his execution.

The Stranger Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Stranger is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What philosophy of life does Meursault espouse at the beginning of the chapter? How have you seen him live out his philosophy?

Chapter Five begins by introducing the reader to a collision of Meursault's two worlds, the world of the work week and of the weekend. Raymond calls Meursault at work and Meursault is annoyed right away.At work, he is in the mode of his...

What explanation does Sintes give for the fight he has had with an Arab man- what isn't quite honest about the order in which he tells his story? How does Meursault react to the story and to Sintes' offer of friendship?

Meursault description of their friendship alludes to the fact that it is pretty one sided. Raymond confides quite a bit of information, calls Meursault at work, and extends weekend invitations.... Meursault is unfazed, he cannot connect.

What do the following quotes by Albert Camus mean to you?

Experience is intrinsic to learning. One must live it in order to understand.

Study Guide for The Stranger

The Stranger study guide contains a biography of Albert Camus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Stranger
• Character List
• Part One, Chapters 1-3 Summary and Analysis
• Related Links

Essays for The Stranger

The Stranger literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Stranger.

• Nonconformity: Condemnation
• Irony Of The Stranger
• The Stranger: Existential Martyrdom
• The Effectiveness of Violence in The Stranger
• Truth Dawning: The Sun as a Symbol for Meursault's Awareness in Albert Camus' The Stranger

Lesson Plan for The Stranger

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Stranger
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• The Stranger Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Stranger

• Introduction

The Stranger

By albert camus.

Published in 1942, The Stranger is Camus' most enduring literary achievement. It has baffled and troubled readers of all ages for decades as they try to contend with Meursault's approach to life, emotions, and consequences.

About the Book

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Stranger by Albert Camus is regarded as one of the finest examples of absurdist fiction ever written. Camus was one of the pioneers of this form of philosophy and used it as the guiding principle in the conception and creation of  The Stranger.  This novel is certainly his best-known work of fiction. The story follows Meursault, an unusual man living in Algiers who floats from one part of his life to the next without conviction or too much emotion. Meursault, like Camus, believes in the meaninglessness of life . This means that when presented with a choice, Meursault simply acts without worrying about the consequences or how that action might be perceived. 

Key Facts about  The Stranger

• Title:   The Stranger
• When/where written : 1941-1942
• Published: France
• Literary Period: Modernism
• Genre:  Absurdist, philosophical
• Point-of-View:  First-person
• Setting: Algiers, Algeria
• Climax:  The murder of the Arab on the beach.
• Antagonist:  Raymond, Meursault himself, the nature of life.

Albert Camus and  The Stranger

Today, Albert Camus (along with Soren Kierkegaard) is regarded as a leader of the existentialist movement . Specifically, absurdism; that is, the belief that life is essentially meaningless despite the human desire for it not to be.  Camus believed that human beings have three different ways that they might confront that meaninglessness. The first of these is to commit suicide or “escape existence.” It’s an option, neither Camus nor Kierkegaard believed was the right one. Second, one might turn to religion or spirituality to find a meaning that doesn’t really exist. One takes a “leap” into the unprovable in this scenario. Lastly, there is acceptance. One must acknowledge the absurd but continue to live. Camus believed that this last option was the best. It is only through accepting the absurd that one can experience their own freedom. (Kierkegaard vehemently disagreed.) While absurdism might seem at first only tangential to  The Stranger  it is in fact at the heart of the story. Meursault is a “stranger” to society . He doesn’t believe that life has meaning nor does he seek to create through relationships.

Books Related to  The Stranger

Directly related to  The Stranger  is Camus’ best-known philosophical essay,  The Myth of Sisyphus.  It was published the same year as  The Stranger  was finished and outlines his beliefs about absurdism and the nature of life. The essay is regarded as one of Camus’ finest works and often ranks alongside  The Stranger  on lists of his most important literary achievements. Although Camus is best-known for absurdism, there are other writers who also engaged with this philosophical idea. For example, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in which Kafka presents an absurd scenario without explanation or reason–because there isn’t one. Kafka’s  The Castle  and The Trail  are also good examples.

The Lasting Impact of The Stranger

The Stranger  is Camus’ most enduring novel . Meursault’s story has confused and haunted readers of all ages, around the world for the eighty years since it was published. The book’s opening line, “Mother died, today” is instantly recognizable as is its closing line: “I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world”. Camus saw Meursault as someone who refused to play by the rules of society. He knows that there is no point to life, despite how others try to convince him, and he pays the price for it.

The novel is regarded as a classic due to the continued challenge of reading about Meursault’s life and trying to understand him as a person. It raises questions that are often uncomfortable to ask and even more so to answer. Most importantly perhaps, it forces readers to reassess the value they place on their interactions and choices .

The Stranger Review ⭐

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The Stranger

73 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 2, Chapters 1-3

Part 2, Chapters 4-5

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Summary and Study Guide

The Stranger is a short novel by French author Albert Camus, published in 1942. The story combines themes of absurdism and existentialism and is considered a classic of 20th-century literature. This guide uses the translation by Stuart Gilbert.

Plot Summary

Meursault , a young man living in Algiers, receives a message which tells him that his mother has died. He takes a bus to the retirement home where she lived and stays with her body before the funeral. His mother is buried the next day, but Meursault demonstrates none of the emotions expected of a grieving son. He spends more time scrutinizing the elderly funeral attendees than he does thinking about his mother.

Upon returning to Algiers, Meursault goes to a swimming pool where he reunites with a former coworker named Marie. They develop a romantic relationship and, after a date at the cinema, she spends the night with him. However, Meursault struggles to commit to any emotions regarding their relationship. Over the coming days, Meursault strengthens his friendship with a neighbor named Raymond Sintes , who enlists Meursault to exact revenge on his Algerian mistress. Sintes blames the woman for being unfaithful to him, and he wants to embarrass her. Meursault agrees to help without thinking about the ramifications of his actions. As with everyone else, Meursault barely considers the feelings of Sintes or his mistress. He writes a letter for Sintes to trick the woman into returning.

Sintes reunites with his mistress thanks to the letter and, soon after, Meursault and Marie overhear a violent argument in Sintes’s apartment. Sintes beats his mistress so badly that the police are called. However, Sintes receives no punishment, as he enlists Meursault as a witness to say the woman was unfaithful. Meursault also talks with an elderly neighbor named Salamano, a man who is often heard shouting at his sick dog. One day the dog goes missing. Meursault tries to comfort Salamano but is bored by the old man’s recollections about his pet and his dead wife.

Sintes invites Marie and Meursault to his friend’s beach house. They are followed by a young Algerian man, the brother of Sintes’s mistress. Meursault spends a day at the beach and feels ill under the oppressive sun. The Algerian youth (whom Meursault refers to as the Arab ) and his friend try to attack Sintes. The Arab draws a knife and cuts Sintes before they run away. Later, Sintes tries to exact revenge on the youths. He tracks down the Arab and his friend and points a gun at them. Meursault convinces Sintes to calm down and takes the gun. That afternoon Meursault goes for a walk alone and encounters the Arab again. The heat of the sun and the confusing situation cause Meursault to shoot the young Algerian four times.

Meursault is arrested and jailed. He reflects on his incarceration and the trial he is about to face. Due to his general apathy and detachment from life, his time in prison is not overly punishing. He explores his memories, sleeps, and is occasionally taken away to be interviewed by a magistrate or his lawyer. The magistrate is shocked that Meursault does not believe in religion, while his lawyer is confident the trial will have a positive result.

At the trial, the prosecutor points to Meursault’s lack of emotion as a reason why he should be executed. He describes Meursault’s behavior at his mother’s funeral and calls numerous witnesses to reveal how Meursault failed to react to emotional situations in the expected manner. This behavior, the prosecutor argues, is evident of a man who lacks any remorse. Salamano, Marie, and Sintes all provide evidence at the trial, but none of them convince the jury that Meursault is a sympathetic figure. Throughout the trial Meursault observes events in the hot, stuffy courtroom in a detached, unengaged manner. The prosecutor closes by labelling Meursault a soulless, remorseless monster who should be put to death. The jury agrees, and Meursault is sentenced to death by guillotine.

Meursault returns to jail while awaiting the results of his appeal. While he waits, he reflects on the nature of justice and death. He argues with the prison chaplain, as the priest cannot understand why Meursault does not believe in God. Religion, Meursault says, is a waste of time. The constant probing from the chaplain leads to an emotional outburst from Meursault. He angrily shouts at the chaplain, who runs from the room. The outburst allows Meursault to express some of the anger and the frustration he feels, but he remains convinced of the meaningless of life and the absurdity of freedom and existence in general.

Meursault prepares to face the guillotine. The more he thinks about his seemingly inevitable death, the more he accepts his fate. He opens himself up to the indifferent nature of the world and hopes that a large crowd will gather to watch his execution.

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