The Stranger Theme Card

Quotes:
1. “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.” 2. “I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn't dissatisfied with mine here at all.”
3. “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.”
4. “Everything was so natural, so well handled, and so calmly acted out that I had the ridiculous impression of being ‘one of the family.’”
5. “Meanwhile, the sun was getting low outside and it wasn’t as hot as before.”
Vehicles:
1. Foreshadowing
2. Setting
3. Existentialism
4. Conscience
Conflicts:
1. Man v. Himself
2. Man v. Society
3. Conformity v. Individualism
Subjects:
1. Individuality
2. Society
3. Meaningless of Life
Significant Themes:
1. Death – The death of the individual affects no one outside of the individual as the world continues on just as it did before.
2. Consciousness – Consciousness can come at the most consequential of times, summarizing past actions and unveiling its purpose (or lack thereof).
Summary:
Meursault, the narrator, is a young man living in Algiers. After receiving a telegram informing him of his mother's death, he takes a bus to Marengo, where his mother had been living in an old persons' home.That night, Meursault keeps vigil over his mother's body. The next morning, before the funeral, he meets with the director again. The director informs him that Thomas Perez, an old man who had grown very close to Meursault's mother, will be attending the funeral service. That night, he happily arrives back in Algiers. The next day, Meursault goes to the public beach for a swim. There, he runs into Marie Cardona, his former co-worker. After seeing a movie they spend the night together. When Meursault wakes up, Marie is gone. He stays in bed until noon and then sits on his balcony until evening, watching the people pass on the street. The following day, Monday, Meursault returns to work. Meursault also runs into his neighbor, Raymond Sintes, who is widely rumored to be a pimp. Raymond invites Meursault over for dinner. Over the meal, Raymond recounts how he beat up his mistress after he discovered that she had been cheating on him. As a result, he got into a fight with her brother. Raymond now wants to torment his mistress even more, but he needs Meursault to write a letter to lure his mistress back to him. The following Saturday, Marie visits Meursault at his apartment. She asks Meursault if he loves her, and he replies that “it didn't mean anything,” but probably not. The two then hear shouting coming from Raymond's apartment. They go out into the hall and watch as a policeman arrives. The policeman slaps Raymond and says that he will be summoned to the police station for beating up his mistress. Later, Raymond asks Meursault to testify on his behalf, and Meursault agrees. Marie asks Meursault if he wants to marry her. He replies indifferently but says that they can get married if she wants to, so they become engaged. The following Sunday, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house owned by Masson, one of Raymond's friends. They swim happily in the ocean and then have lunch. That afternoon, Masson, Raymond, and Meursault run into two Arabs on the beach, one of whom is the brother of Raymond's mistress. A fight breaks out and Raymond is stabbed. After tending to his wounds, Raymond returns to the beach with Meursault. They find the Arabs at a spring. Raymond considers shooting them with his gun, but Meursault talks him out of it and takes the gun away. Later, however, Meursault returns to the spring to cool off, and, for no apparent reason, he shoots Raymond's mistress's brother. Meursault is arrested and thrown into jail. As he awaits his trial, Meursault slowly adapts to prison life. His isolation from nature, women, and cigarettes torments him at first, but he eventually adjusts to living without them, and soon does not even notice their absence. He manages to keep his mind occupied, and he sleeps for most of each day. Meursault is taken to the courthouse early on the morning of his trial. The subject of the trial quickly shifts away from the murder to a general discussion of Meursault's character, and of his reaction to his mother's death in particular. The director and several other people who attended the vigil and the funeral are called to testify, and they all attest to Meursault's lack of grief or tearsDuring his summation the following day, the prosecutor calls Meursault a monster and says that his lack of moral feeling threatens all of society. Meursault is found guilty and is sentenced to death by beheading. Meursault returns to prison to await his execution. He struggles to come to terms with his situation, and he has trouble accepting the certainty and inevitability of his fate. He imagines escaping and he dreams of filing a successful legal appeal. One day, the chaplain comes to visit against Meursault's wishes. He urges Meursault to renounce his atheism and turn to God, but Meursault refuses. Like the magistrate, the chaplain cannot believe that Meursault does not long for faith and the afterlife. Meursault suddenly becomes enraged, grabs the chaplain, and begins shouting at him. He declares that he is correct in believing in a meaningless, purely physical world. For the first time, Meursault truly embraces the idea that human existence holds no greater meaning. He abandons all hope for the future and accepts the “gentle indifference of the world.”
Major Character:
Meursaults- psychologically detached from the world around him. Events that would be very significant for most people, such as a marriage proposal or a parent's death, do not matter to him, at least not on a sentimental level.
In displaying his indifference, Meursault implicitly challenges society's accepted moral standards, which dictate that one should grieve over death. Because Meursault does not grieve, society sees him as an outsider, a threat, even a monster.
Marie - Marie delights in physical contact. Though Marie is disappointed when Meursault expresses his indifference toward love and marriage, she does not end the relationship or rethink her desire to marry him. Marie never grasps the indifference of the universe, and she never comes to understand the redemptive value of abandoning hope.
Raymond - character traits contrast greatly with Meursault's, he also functions as a foil for Meursault. Whereas Meursault is simply amoral, Raymond is clearly immoral. Raymond's treatment of his mistress is violent and cruel, and he nearly kills the Arab himself before Meursault talks him out of it. Additionally, whereas Meursault passively reacts to the events around him, Raymond initiates action. It is possible that Raymond begins his relationship with Meursault intending only to use him, and then, like Marie, becomes drawn to Meursault's peculiarities.