A shipping clerk living in French Algiers in the 1940s, Meursault is a young, detached but ordinary man. The novel begins with Meursault receiving a telegram informing him of his mother’s death. He attends the funeral, but surprises other attendees with his unusual calm and (once again) detachment.
Albert Camus used his debut novel, The Stranger (1942), 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. In his work, Camus addressed topics ranging from alienation to the inadequacy of traditional values.
What is the message in the stranger?
The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life.
Does Meursault regret killing the Arab?
Meursault admits to himself that he feels little regret; after all, the man whom he shot was a stranger; he was only an Arab, and, to Meursault, the prosecutor is overdoing the emphasis on Meursault’s regret. . Meursault tells us that he is a man incapable of regret.
How many times did Meursault shoot the Arab?
When Meursault steps toward the cool water of the spring, the Arab draws his knife. The sunlight reflects off the blade and directly into Meursault’s eyes, which are already stinging with sweat and heat. Meursault fires the gun once. He pauses and then fires four more times into the Arab’s motionless body.
What is the message given in the stranger?
Camus’s message in The Stranger is that life is absurd. He communicates this message through the protagonist, Meursault, who lives his life according to the belief that his world operates without order, reason, or meaning.
What is the story the stranger about?
The Stranger is a children’s book written in 1986 by the American author Chris Van Allsburg. It tells a story of a stranger with no memory of who he is or where he is from. He recuperates in the home of a farmer and his family during the fall season.
What is the main theme of the stranger?
Major themes of The Stranger include alienation, absurdity, and French colonialism. Meursault is the titular stranger, a young shipping clerk living in Algiers in the 1940s, when it was still a French colony. Meursault’s life is dull and empty, and Meursault takes little pleasure in living.
What does the last line of the stranger mean?
me with cries of hate
How does Meursault describe shooting the Arab?
In « The Stranger », by Albert Camus, Meursault describes shooting the Arab after he’s already dead as follows: « I knew I’d shattered the balance of the day, thespacious calm of this beach on which I had been happy. But I fired four shots more into the inert body, on which they left no visible trace.
What does Meursault realize at the end of the stranger?
Authenticity at the end of The Stranger: At the end of The Stranger, Meursault is able to die happy because he (like Ivan Ilyich) is able to come to terms with himself as a constituent part of existence, and so live authentically.
What is Meursault’s final wish?
Meursault finds that he is also happy with his position in society. He does not mind being a loathed criminal. He only wishes for companionship, “to feel less alone.” He accepts that this companionship will take the form of an angry mob on his execution day.
How many times did Meursault fire his revolver?
How many times did Meursault fire his revolver? 5 times, the one shot then the other four 6.
What does the stranger symbolize?
The symbols in The Stranger represent conflicts for Meursault between social convention and engagement in the experiences of life.
How does Meursault feel about death?
Meursault believes that death is inevitable, which is what makes all men equal. He also does not believe in an afterlife, which leads to conflict with the chaplain. In the novel, Meursault comes to the conclusion that no matter what a human does, it has no impact on the world or his/her fate of dieing in the end.
What is the message of the stranger?
The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life.
How does Meursault feel about killing the Arab?
It struck me that all I had to do was to turn, walk away, and think no more about it. When he does shoot « the Arab », he notes that « each successive shot was another loud, fateful rap on the door of my undoing. » All in all, killing « the Arab » seems like a bad idea.
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