The Stranger

Albert Camus

1942

"Maman died today.
Or yesterday maybe,
I don't know"




Thirty years after its original publication, The Stranger remains among the most influential books of our time. A terrifying picture of a man victimized by life itself—he is a faceless man, who has committed a pointless murder—it is a book whose unrelenting grip upon our consciousness has not diminished to this day.










The Sun


"All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on
my forehead and, indistictly, the dazzling spear
flying up from the knife in front of me."



The sun is a constant motif in this story. The sun is present at the funeral of Mersault's mother, again on the beach before the pivotal moment of the first half, and yet again in the courtroom. The sun follows Mersault, seemingly taunting him and beating down on him relentlessly. Jaded by the absurdity of life, Mersault lets the sun dictate his actions depending on the severity of its aggression upon him. The sun leads him to joyous moments in life, but also sinister ones.





















Albert Camus
 1913 - 1960

Camus was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works include The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall, and The Rebel.









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