World Literature II
Dr. Ramirez

Albert Camus. The Stranger

Page 47-81

  • Setting Algeria 1930's; At this time, there are about 9 Arabs to each European (French colonists).  In the text, the Arabs are nameless and are known only in relation to one another.
  • How does the notion of self and other operate in the text?

    • How does Camus's treatment of Arabs correspond with that of Garcia Marquez? Are these writers racist? Are they exploring cultural clashes? Or is their fiction too complicated to easily answer these questions?
  • Camus emphasizes the notion of awareness in the text.
  • Camus equates, to a degree,  the pleasure of  a fresh towel, a beautiful woman, and a job promotion.
  • The refrain from the text is "it doesn't matter"
  • Meursault refuses to engage in emotion (he doesn't care if he marries or not)
  • He is an observer because he is reluctant to face his past or the future
  • Is he shallow? Or does he like to be cautious? He is honest. Ethical to a fault in not wanting to lie
  • M. Refuses to take a stance on trivial issues, but he does admit his guilt when accused
  • Camus is a realist. His character observes physical details to defer thinking about heavier issues
  • M. pays attention to the landscape and climate
  • Attends to the negative aspects of a person's appearance, Notices the long face of the nurse and her lovely voice, notices the oddities and imperfections of the old folks--black heads, the sweat, and the wrinkles
  • Follows path of least resistance
  • Sometimes he is not ethical or, at the least, he acts on impulse
  • Raymond has white forearms with black hairs--repulsive to Meursault, too much contrast.
  • Marie "lay down right next to me and the combined warmth from her body and from the sun made me doze off" 51
  • Meursault feels oppressed and warmed by the sun.
  • Raymond's arm drips with blood
  • Meursault grits his teeth and clenches his fists to battle the red glare of the sun 57
  • Drops of sweat cloud his vision 58
  • I felt the smooth underside of the butt; and there, in that noise, sharp and deafening at the same time, is where it all started. I shook off the sweat and sun.
  • Bullets lodge into the Arab without a trace 59
  • No cigarettes, no women, no plumbing in prison
  • Partition in the visiting room for prisoners and guests--reinforces inside and outside duality
  • M. Recalls while in prison all the details of his apartment--recalls his life--relies on memory and images

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    Page 82

  • How is Meursault both an insider and an outsider?
  • Battle between the physical and the emotional--what are we allowed to see?
  • relationship between the passage of time and lived experience
  • image of Marie's smile and laughter
  • Use of irreverent language (representation of the nursing home)
  • Camus makes Meursault a self consciousness figure who very much expresses a modern and disaffected sensibility