Cliffsnotes on Camus' the Stranger

by Gary K. Carey

The meaninglessness and randomness of life was a constant theme in Camus's writing. This story is absurd, yet touches a chord within the reader that surely will resonate for years to come. A man is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822012294
• ISBN13: 9780822012290
• Release Date: April 1965
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Mersault, an existential stranger

When my English teacher first issued out the novel to our class, I thought the novel was going to be a very suspendful and interesting book. But it turned out that a lot of my classmates did not like the book as I expected. Personally, I think this book was not that bad as I thought. The character Mersault was a little bit annoying at the beginning when he showed no emotion toward his mama's death. He seemed to care less what others thought of him. The fact that he was an atheist really showed why he had strongly refused to listen to the chaplain at the end of the novel. He was the kind of man that really stuck to his belief of existentialism without being shaky. I was surprised that nature had a big impact on Mersault. In everything he saw around him, colors of nature were always involved. However, it was kind of unfair for him to die at the end because he had killed an Arab which he himself did not want to. According to his answer, the sun forced him to commit a crime. Though, it sounded vague. But we need to know that this man was imprisoned by nature and by his existentialism belief. His physical needs were more important than shedding feeling toward anything. I believe what Mersault said that the sun was the reason why he had killed the Arab. He himself was innocent and shouldn't have died just because he showed no feeling toward his mama's death. That's just stupid and ridiculous.