"The Stranger," by Albert Camus

Books that challenge one to look beyond their own personal beliefs about right and wrong are often the most important and educational. The book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus explores themes of justice, or lack thereof, human abnormality and questions social conventions. The Stranger takes place in French occupied Algeria, the Algiers. Meursault, the main character, is described to be a strange French fellow. The book opens with Meursault's mother’s funeral and his odd approach to grief. Camus doesn't position him as an antagonist nor a protagonist, leaving the reader to their own conclusions about his behavior. Throughout the book it is clear Meursault doesn’t behave as other people do. The Stranger’s unconventional main character encourages introspective thinking in readers and forces them to think outside of the social expectations that society has set regarding how one reacts to grief, stress, murder and unconventionality. 

Albert Camus was born on November 7th, 1913 in Drean, Algeria. He died 46 years later in a car crash on January 4th 1960 in Villeblevin, France. In the short time between those two dates he got tuberculosis at age 17 and turned to philosophy as a remedy. He continued his philosophical endeavors receiving his bachelors and masters in philosophy from the University of Algiers. He would go on to publish more than 20 books, one of the most famous and notable being “The Stranger.” His other notable works include The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague, The Rebel and The Fall, all of which were translated to English from his native French. At age 44 he became the first African and second youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

When writing The Stranger Camus' alleged primary inspiration was his unconventional friend Pierre Galindo. Galindo's strange behaviors have been attributed to Asperger's syndrome, traits echoed through Meursault's absurd actions.Camus was an architect of the belief of “absurdism.” Camus’ absurdism centered itself in the idea that humans struggle to find meaning in a meaningless life. He once said “The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning.” The belief was inherently pessimistic but Camus took the point of view that it was just a fact that humans must come to accept in order to be happy.Absurdism is further explored in The Stranger. Merusault explores what he believes to be a meaningless life, a belief so strange to his peers he is deemed a stranger in his own town.  

The Stranger highlights its main characters' interactions in momentous occasions. It begins with Meursault's mothers death which he has a notably casual response to. Meursault is used to illustrate Camus' absurdist point of view in that what we do or don’t do doesn't matter as every outcome is inevitable. Only 24 hours after his mothers funeral he goes on a date with Marie, a woman from his past job. Later in the book Marie asks him to marry her and he doesn't say yes or no, he is indifferent, leaving the choice of whether they get engaged up to her. Meursault's neighbor Raymond, an alleged pimp, asks him for advice regarding a woman he believes to be cheating on him and if he should punish her for it. Meursault listened to the situation and agreed to assist him in writing a strongly worded letter to her. Shortly after Raymond  beat the girl senseless. After this the police came and Meursault helped Raymond get out of trouble. Raymond's mistress’ brother, an “Arab” heard of this and sought vengeance from Raymond. The Arab stabbed Raymond at the beach. Meursault later shot the “Arab” because he had been frustrated with the sun and shocked with the sight of a knife. Meursault was put on trial, found guilty, and put on death row. His strange demeanor had unsettled the jury, the prosecutor and even his own lawyer. 

Meursault's public responses create conflict throughout the book. His lack of tears at his mother's funeral. His friend Raymond comes into conflict with an Arab over the beating of his sister. Meursault furthers the conflict by killing the Arab on the beach just from the sight of a knife. All of these events would culminate in his trial and guilty verdict. The conflict the book introduces is not a specific event but is found in the absurd nature of Meursault and how he doesn't meet the status quo. 

Meursault is characterized by other characters at the beginning of the book as devoid of emotion or as his employer put it, any ambition. The nursing staff at his mothers funeral home are baffled by his lack of sorrow over the great loss and his casual smoking and drinking of coffee as he holds vigil. While some look poorly upon him others are intrigued by his strange disposition like his girlfriend/fiance Marie who, albeit finds him rather queer, is also drawn in by his mysterious nature. His character experiences a shift when he kills the Arab. He went from a passive man who seemed to have no opinion and was driven by little emotion to a man who took quite the tactless and senseless action of committing an act of murder. An action which withdrew him from any anonymity. By the end of the book as he faces a court and jury he becomes confused with others' perception of him. He considers himself quite sensible but due to his abnormal traits he is an alien to all that surrounds him. He understands that he is no longer on trial for the action of murder but rather for being a stranger to social normalities. The prison chaplain inspects Meursault's lack of faith and comes to the same conclusion almost every other character had about him, that he was insane. The prison chaplain tells him he will find god in death and in the walls of the prison. Meursault looks for something in the walls of his cell, as he is quite a literal man, and he does find someone. Marie. His love for Marie is his conclusion to the prison chaplains speeches of god. This disproves the notion that he is a man without love, passion or any human sensibility. His beliefs about life far differed from his peers but he was human none the less. This is when he goes out of character and snaps at the chaplain saying he lived his life the way he wanted. His once indifferent personality became emotional and loud. The realization that he had no escape from the inevitable end of life and finds peace in this fact. 

I really loved this book. I thought it was ingenious and every page I read the more it felt like my beliefs were being picked apart in a very enjoyable way. I appreciate being introduced to new ideas that challenge my own. It is very easy to dismiss characters like Meursault as evil but Camus introduced other factors like an unfair trial and questioned if someone's beliefs are unconventional does that make them evil or different? The central idea was not that Meursault had killed someone but rather that everything leads to the same end. Meursault was so unconventional it was likely that he would face a similar fate no matter what because what killed him wasn't his own actions but rather his clashing with the status quo. Sometimes being different is too much for people to handle. 

“The Stranger” offers intellectual conversation regarding right and wrong and good and bad. If you do not like mentions of murder or abuse then it may not be the best choice but if you are interested in philosophy and personal introspection this is a perfect book. In modern times with social media it is easy to put people into boxes. Despite taking place more than 60 years ago, Camus' work challenges these boxes and makes readers think more mindfully about social norms and what justice means. “The Stranger” by Albert Camus is a must read for everyone.