... Or yesterday maybe, I don't know"(1). This, the opening line of The Stranger, foreshadows Meursault's attitude toward everything else in the first half of the book. Instead of being mournful and depressed about the death of his mother, Meursault drinks coffee, smokes, and naps in a relaxed manner during the wake at ... causing him physical discomfort. His socially unacceptable indifference to his mother's death was a major factor in his conviction in the second half of the book. Meursault's absurdity is also evident in his relationship with his mistress, Marie. The day after his mother...

• Word Count: 1312
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... interested in trivial details about strangers. He spends an entire day watching the people on the streets outside his apartment. He remembers details about individuals and recognizes faces. As the book proceeds into Part 2, Meursault begins to develop meaningful memories about his life. He remembers profound statements made by his mother. For example, he says that it was "one of Maman ... [him] about his father" (110). This memory becomes a coping mechanism to help Meursault accept his fate. The protagonist's father had once "gone to watch a murderer be executed" (110). As the book prog...

• Word Count: 1329
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... not also catch a glimpse of another Meursault who lives as a student in Paris and was presumably not always so passive as we find him in the first part of the book. Actually his is not totally deprived of passion, for it is his passion that leads him to his decision to be honest to himself and to base his life on ... ...

• Word Count: 2472
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... show on television, and it was paused for a commercial. The subplots in some books are relevant and almost necessary to allow them to make sense, but the ones in this book only served as page-fillers. Even though when this happened the rats really did spread the plague, I enjoyed that aspect of the novel the most. The rats symbolized filth and ... ...

• Word Count: 2018
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... true, but he is saying this lie simply to get Mersault into further trouble. The society has its own expectations which need to be followed correctly. The society in the book basically kills Mersault, because it needlessly accuses him of his mother's death and makes an impetuous decision to execute him absurdly. At the trial, Mersault was asked a question about his ... ...

• Word Count: 1851
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... example of a paper cutter to explain the concept. He says that the paper cutter is designed in a particular way for a specific use. It is used to produce such as making a book. The paper cutter is a method of production, which is the essence because the concept precedes the existence of the paper cutter. How this relates to humans is that we exist ... ...

• Word Count: 1440
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... own decisions. Throughout the novel Camus introduces the idea that if one accepts death, one will be free because one will have nothing to fear. In the opening of the book, Monsieur Meursault finds that his mother has recently passed away. "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure" (1). Most people would know when their own mother died and would ... ...

• Word Count: 1320
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School