The Stranger (novel)

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The Stranger, also translated as The Outsider, (the original French version is called L’Étranger) (1942) is a novel by Albert Camus.

(Note: Étranger in French has several meanings. One is "foreign", as in exterior to one's country, while another is used to signify a generic person who is unknown to you, similar to "stranger". It could be argued that the title would be better translated as The Foreigner, as the main character is a foreigner, which would be fitting in the context that Meursault was a man of French origins living in Algeria. However, knowing Camus's position in regard to Algeria, it may not mean "foreigner" because the character Meursault is a pied-noir, probably with several generations of family living in Algeria before him. Camus was known to advocate that pieds-noirs were as much citizens of Algeria as the Algerian population.)

1 Plot
2 The Background and Philosophy
3 Cultural Influences
4 External links

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The novel tells the story of an alienated man, who eventually commits a murder and waits to be executed for it. The book uses an Algerian setting, drawn from Camus's own upbringing.

At the start of the novel, Meursault goes to his mother's funeral, where he does not express any emotions and is basically unaffected by it. The novel continues to document the next few days of his life through the first person point-of-view. In these days, he befriends one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintes, a notorious local pimp. He aids Raymond in dismissing one of his Arab mistresses. Later, the two confront the woman's brother ("the Arab") on a beach and Raymond gets cut in the resulting knife fight. Meursault afterwards goes back to the beach and, in a heat-induced fit of lunacy, shoots the Arab once, which kills him, then fires four more times at the dead body.

At the trial, the prosecution focuses on the inability or unwillingness of Meursault to cry at his mother's funeral, considered suspect by the authorities. The killing of the Arab apparently is less important than whether Meursault is capable of remorse. The argument follows that if Meursault is incapable of remorse, he should be considered a dangerous misanthrope and subsequently executed to prevent him from doing it again, and by executing, make him an example to those considering murder.

As the novel comes to a close, Meursault meets with a chaplain, and is enraged by his insistence that he turn to God. The novel ends with Meursault recognizing the universe's indifference for humankind. The final lines echo his new realization: "As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."

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The Background and Philosophy

Albert Camus, like Meursault, was a pied-noir (literally black foot)—a Frenchman who lived in the Maghreb, the northernmost crescent of the Mediterranean Sea, the heart of France's colonies.

Usually classed as an existential novel, The Stranger is indeed based on Camus's theory of the absurd. Many readers mistakenly believe that Meursault lives by the ideas of the existentialists. In the first half of the novel, however, Meursault is clearly an unreflecting, unapologetic individual. He is moved only by sensory experiences (the funeral procession, swimming at the beach, sexual intercourse with Marie, etc). Camus is reinforcing his basic thesis that there is no Truth, only (relative) truths—and, in particular, that truths in science (empiricism/rationality) and religion are ultimately meaningless. Of course, Meursault himself isn't directly aware of any of this -- his awareness of the absurd is subconscious at best; it 'colors' his actions. But Camus's basic point remains: the only real things are those that we experience physically. Thus, Meursault kills the Arab because of his response to the glaring sun, which beats down upon him as he moves toward his 'adversary' on the beach. The death of the Arab isn't particularly meaningful in itself: it's merely something else that 'happens' to Meursault. The significance of this episode is that it forces Meursault to reflect upon his life (and its meaning) as he contemplates his pending execution. Only by being tried and sentenced to death is Meursault forced to acknowledge his own mortality and the responsibility he has for his own life.

Another theme is that we make our own destiny, and we, not God, are responsible for our actions and their consequences (non-determinism).

Truth is another theme in the book. Meursault, despite being judged by many of his contemporaries as immoral or amoral, believes passionately in truth and justice, and is always candid and never displays emotions he does not feel nor participates in social conventions he finds dishonest—although it is considered the socially acceptable response, Meursault does not exhibit grief at his mother's funeral. This belief takes on a naïve dimension when he goes through the trial process—he questions the need for a lawyer, as the truth should speak for itself. Much of the second half of the book involves this theme of the imperfection of justice. It is Meursault's belief in truth that proves his undoing—a public official compiling the details of the case tells Meursault he will be saved if he repents and turns to Christianity, but Meursault is truthful to his atheism and refuses to pretend to find religion. More generally, Meursault's love of truth overrides his self-preservation instinct—he feels that he must be punished for his actions, and refuses to try to evade justice.

In writing the novel Camus was influenced by other existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger. Camus and Sartre in particular had been involved in the French resistance during WWII and were friends until ultimately differing on their philosophical stances.

Ultimately, Camus presents the world as essentially meaningless and therefore, the only way to arrive at any meaning or purpose is to make it oneself. Thus it is the individual and not the act that gives meaning to any given context. Camus deals with this issue, as well as man's relationship to man and issues such as suicide in his other works such as A Happy Death and The Plague, as well as his non-fiction works such as The Rebel and The Myth of Sisyphus.

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Cultural Influences

In cinema, the novel inspired Lo Straniero (1967), directed by Luchino Visconti, and Yazgi (2001), directed by Zeki Demirkubuz. It also had patent influence on Coen brothers' film The Man Who Wasn't There.

In popular music, it inspired The Cure's single Killing an Arab, and is rumored to have inspired Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

In the 1990 film Jacob's Ladder, starring Tim Robbins, Jacob (Robbins) is seen reading The Stranger.

In the 2005 film Jarhead, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the main character, Swoff (Gyllenhaal), is seen reading a copy of Camus' L'Étranger, or "The Outsider."

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