Xiuying 1

Xiuying Zheng

Ryan Galargher

English 12 CP

14 Jan. 2010

The Life of Non-Meaning: An Analysis of Camus’ The Stranger

The protagonist Meursault in the novel The Stranger seems to be just a guy who is

unaware of society. He seems so bored and only wants physical desires. Also, Meursault doesn’t

care about death, even at his mother’s funeral he doesn’t cry at all. By creating Meursault,

Albert Camus was saying that life doesn’t have any meaning. Camus’s life was not that good.

His living conditions were poor. He moved to Paris after World War II, a poor people lived in

the war period always have no hope for life (Gay-Crosier). He was thought that everything that

lives must die, no matter what he do in the life. Camus was a modern thinker of absurdity, he

shows his notion of absurdity, and denies that there is any ultimate reason for the whole(Martin).

Camus describes the “sun glint[ing] off Raymond’s gun as he handed it to [him]. But

[they] just [stood] there motionless, as if everything had closed in around [them]...” (Camus 56),

Albert Camus suggests that this world is cold and things happened without a reason. Camus

shows this by describing the action between Meursault and Raymond, and shows Meursault’s

feeling by the actions happened. Camus also used sunlight as a negative force on Meursault. The

passage “but without taking his eyes off his adversary, Raymond [had] asked [Meursault],

’should [he] let [Arab men] have it?’（56）.” Camus described this world is helpless; people

need to be cruel to protect themselves to be not hurt from others. Camus was born in Mondovi in

Algeria; he was an immigrant at World War II period. As an immigrant to live in the new

country at that period, everything seems so cold, no one going to help you to get out your
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problem, only yourself need to be strong and stand up to face every bit you have(Algiers). As

Camus described “[Took] him on man to man and [gave] me your gun, if the other one [moved]

in, or if he [draw] his knife, I’ll let him have it (56).” Meursault got the gun from Raymond not

because he wants to stop Raymond’s action of crime, but to take that action by himself. He had

no other better choice to come up with, it seems only death can solve the problem, and Meursault

doesn’t care about death. Camus was a modern thinker; he doesn’t believe there has a God, he

believed all things come from nowhere and are going nowhere. No matter what you did in the

life, life has no meaning; it doesn’t have heaven or hell for dead people either (Absurdity).

Camus described Meursault reacted to his confinement in the prison with feeling of

indifference. And Meursault didn’t have any guilt or regret on himself for what he has done.

When Meursault was put into the prison, he got a chance to think about his past, but the past

cannot satisfy Meursault physical need, only the present can satisfy that. Camus was

existentialism, he is the people who act free and believe in himself. He lived on his own world

(Existentialism). But once Meursault came into the prison, the present satisfy of physical need

also fail. As the long period passed in the prison, Meursault staring at his reflection, and faced

seriously and realized that he had been talking to himself. In prison, he is growing to understand

himself and his beliefs more and more

In the passage “One day when the … it (80).” Camus suggests that people would begin

to find themselves which they hide it deep in their heart when they felt lonely at a long period.

Meursault as a murder stay in prison for five months, the time for him seems lost meaning but

only the words yesterday and tomorrow, but Meursault cannot control that loneliness came to

him and made him to think back what he had done. And this made Meursault to understand more

about him. At the beginning of the stranger, Camus used comparisons on Meursault thinking and
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tells us that Meursault was beginning to notice himself little bit. “[His] reflection seemed to

remain serious even though [he] was trying to smile at it… stern expression (81).” Nothing

seems matter to Meursault at the beginning of the story, and Meursault was tried to stay same

and not let his own reflection influence his mind, but no matter how Meursault tried to ignore it,

the reflection was remain serious to him., The long period silence made Meursault to grow.

“[He] recognized it as the same one… [Talked] to [himself] (81).” As many quiet nights and

days were passed in the prison, Meursault seems to remember what had happened to him, and he

was noticed how his own voice was alike. Lonely bring Meursault to back to the period that has

his own voice. And it made him to go through himself one more time, and understand himself

little more. No one in this world is really has no feeling about things, only if they hide

themselves to not feel it. Camus told us that time and lonely can stimulate oneself to find their

voice, just as Meursault understand himself more and more in the long period prison life.

Albert Camus described Meursault in the stranger as a people sure for one thing—death.

It is not worth one’s time to worry about things as good or bad because one will die no matter

what he did in the life, so don’t need to care about the death, and life, or any life at all. Nothing is

matters. Meursault didn’t have any guilt or regret on himself for what he has done. His presents

satisfy of physical need fail once he came into the prison. And he insists his own belief.

Assignment for annotated bibliography for Camus’ The Stranger

Gay-Crosier, Raymond. "Albert Camus." French Novelists, 1930-1960. Ed. Catharine Savage
Brosman. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 72. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988.
Summary：
This is a biographical about Charles de Gaulle. He was a very important people on
French history. He was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces
during World War I. His books are reflection his point of view and consisted of two facts.
He was resigning after 1944, but feels necessary to come back to the political scene and
to call for the creation of new governing institutions.
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Important quotations：
Gaulle, Charles de (1890-1970), French army officer, statesman, and political leader. An
expert on intensive armored warfare, which he had anticipated, de Gaulle was one of the
few French commanders to gain success against the German attack in the west in May
1940. On June 6, 1940, he was appointed deputy minister of war. Ten days later, de
Gaulle was among the first who refused to go along with the surrender to Germany by
French prime minister Philippe Pétain. Arriving in London, de Gaulle announced the
formation of a Free France Committee and called on French soldiers and civilians,
wherever they might be, to join him. He sought to engage French forces in battles for the
liberation of French colonies, even when this meant fighting against the French army that
had remained loyal to the Vichy regime. This was the case in Syria and Lebanon in June
1941, when the Free French fought alongside the British. On this occasion de Gaulle
visited Palestine, from June 13 to 23. In the November 1942 battle for the liberation of
North Africa, however, the Allied forces did not inform de Gaulle of their plans,
preferring to entrust the civilian administration of Algeria to François Darlan and the
Vichy officials who surrendered to them. The anti-Jewish legislation that the Pétain
government had introduced in Algeria remained in force until it was rescinded by de
Gaulle in October 1943, when he overcame his rivals and placed Algeria under Free
French control. (paragraph 1)
Purpose:
This source from “Charles de Gaulle” not only talks about how the Charles de Gaulle’s
life was, it also indicated the peoples living conditions at French at that period. The war is
very cruel; it can make a person cold-blooded or numb. As Camus described in the “The
Stranger”, the life to Meursault seems nothing, he gave people the expression of calm,
and nature seems a big deal to him. But in the war time, how can people be so calm,
unless that people is already lost his all hopes of life. And also in the war time, death
seems so normal, there’s many people die every day. So people already have too much
sense about death and become numb. As what Meursault’s thought in the “The Stranger”,
that everyone would die someday. So death seems nothing to him.
This source helps us to understand more about Meursault’s thought of life.

Gay-Crosier, Raymond. "Albert Camus." French Novelists, 1930-1960. Ed. Catharine Savage
Brosman. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 72. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988.
Summary:
This is a biographical essay about Albert Camus. Albert Camus was born on 7 November
1913 in Mondovi in Algeria. He is one of the best-known twentieth-century French
authors. He was a French Algerian author, philosopher and journalist. He moved to Paris
after World War II as a journalist.
Important quotations:
“The years from 1934 to 1937 were marked by Camus's increasing political involvement
and related cultural activities, his travels to the Balearic islands and to central Europe, the
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rapid deterioration of his marriage and eventual separation from Simone Hié, whose drug
addiction and related extramarital escapades became unbearable.”
Purpose:
The source from “Albert Camus” biographical essay, we can directly see that Camus’s
life was not that good. His living conditions had leaded him the different opportunity as
others. His life is so poor, but this poor made him stronger, and have more strength than
others. Albert Camus received the award the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature. But just
over two years he received that, he was having died in an automobile accident. Camus’s
life-styles of Algiers was so monotonous, but he love to play soccer. He recognized that
he lacked of communication and social contacts. As in his book “The Stranger”, he
indicated that meursault’s lack of social contacts. In 1930, at seventeen, Camus was
diagnosed as having tuberculosis. Camus was cited as a proponent of existentialism. His
existentialism was full expressed in the novel “The Stranger”. Camus opposed to
nothingness, and to promote resistance, the resistance of Camus is more spiritual, that is
not how you do, but rather how you feel. As he shows in the “The Stranger”, that action
doesn’t have that much meaning.

MARTIN, V. M. “Absurdity.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2003.
48-49. Gale World History In Context. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
Summary:
Absurdity is a basic notion for a number of modern thinkers. The dictionaries define the
absurd as that which is contrary to reason, as used by these writers it designates that
which is without a reason. The absurd is a situation, a thing, or an event that really is, but
for which no explanation is possible. Some playwrights indicated the absurdity thought
dramatics, and have been called collectively the Theater of the Absurd.
Important quotations:
The notion was then taken up by modern thinkers, especially by existentialists, but in an
atheistic context. Thus, absurdity for Sartre arises from the absolute contingency and
complete gratuity of the world. Because there is no God, Sartre argues, there are no
reasons for things. Things just are; and because they are without any reason for being,
they are absurd. Ultimately all things come from nowhere and are going nowhere. Camus
gives a different meaning. Admitting that there are scientific explanations for the various
parts of the universe, Camus denies that there is any ultimate reason for the whole.
Absurdity is a feeling that arises from the confrontation between man, who is looking for
a unified explanation of all things, and a world that has no basic meaning.
Purpose:
This source is fantastic to help us to understand more about the book “The Stranger”.
Camus was also a modern thinker of absurdity, he shows his notion of absurdity in the
book through Meursault, and denies that there is any ultimate reason for the whole.
Meursault is an unperceptive man, existing only sensory experience, the funeral
procession, swimming in the sea, sleeping with his girlfriend, only real and true things
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are his physical experiences. Meursault’s non-meaning actions and indifference of life
indicated that the world has no basic meaning. And in meursault’s head, there is no god,
he wasn’t believed in god. As some modern thinkers’ notation’s that there is no god,
there are no reasons for things, and all things come from nowhere and are going nowhere.

Kirpalani, Anita. "France's Real Immigration Story.” Newsweek International 1 Feb. 2010.
Gale World History in Context. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
Summary:
In the story, anti-immigrant sentiment has across Europe by financial hard times.
Policymakers were debate on what it means to be French, and to use immigration as a
pretext to talk about ethnicity, an otherwise taboo notion in France. And the book
suggests that their time might be better spent on policies that create opportunity for the
poor immigrant than on debating who can rightly call themselves French. The book’s
main finding is that family’s class origin and parent’s positive attitude plays a huge role
and will influence their children on whether they will thrive in France.
Important quotations:
"He asked why I had put Maman in the home. I answered that it was because I didn’t
have the money to have her looked after and cared for. "(Camus 87)
Purpose:
Meursault is a young and aimless Algerian immigrant to France. He is in the poor family
with her mother. He doesn’t have that much money to afford and take cares his mother,
and he doesn’t have that much sense about things and the life. The source from “France’s
real immigration story” helps us understand the situation of immigrant has to face as
Meursault. Poor was one issues of Meusault. In Algiers, the more French one was the
more important the individual. This is why it was more upsetting to the court that
meursault was not respectful of their societal norms, and killing an Arab was a minor
offense.

Lehman, David. "Exit no exit: whatever happened to existentialism?." American Scholar. (Vol.
77). .2 (Spring2008): p16. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Malden High School. 10
Dec. 2010

Summary:
Existentialism assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they
make of themselves, this thought was largely import from Europe. There some of the
greatest moments in the history of existentialism.
Important quotations:
Sartre's philosophy is generally taken as the paradigm of existentialist philosophy, and
other figures are usually considered existentialists insofar as they resonate with certain
sartrean themes—extreme individualism, an emphasis on freedom and responsibility, and
the insistence that we and not the world give meaning to our live. Thus some key figures
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who might be considered existentialist, Camus and Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, are
sometimes excluded because they are not sufficiently Sartrean. Existentialism can be
defined as a philosophy that puts special emphasis on personal existence, on the problems
and peculiarities that face individual human beings.
Purpose:
Meursault was can say an existentialism, he is the people who act free and believe in
himself. He doesn’t care’s other people or other thing; the world seems have no meaning
to him. He live on his own world.

Sivers, Peter Von. "Algiers" Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed.
Philip Mattar. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 139-140.
Global Issues In Context. Gale. Malden High School. 16 Dec. 2010
Summary:
France occupied Algeria in 1830, and in 1834 declared a French colony Algeria. In
France during the reign of a large number of Europeans came to settle in Algeria. In
1954, about 100 million people of European descent living in Algeria, including a large
number of generations of French people living in the area. For many French people, it is
unacceptable to give up Algeria. And Algiers War was a conflict between France and
Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its
independence from France.
Important quotations:
In 1954, overwhelming agrarian inequality and misery triggered the Algerian War of
Independence. The war hastened the rural exodus, and around 1956, for the first time,
more Muslims than Europeans lived in Algiers. In 1957, the war extended to the city,
where it was fought briefly in the Casbah's maze of cul-de-sacs. In 1962, France's
President Charles de Gaulle grew weary of the political divisions the war was creating in
France, and Algeria achieved its independence. Furious settlers scorched parts of
downtown Algiers before leaving the city en masse (311,000 left between 1960 and
1962).
Purpose:
The Stranger is set in Algiers around the late 1930s or early 1940s. Meursault was a
young and aimless Algerian immigrant to France. The World War also happened around
that year. People all have hard time to live well at war time. Meursault was one of them
who lived in poor.

"Sad love poem..." Youtube. Pub. by vainly112. 16 March 2008. 17 Dec. 2010.
Summary:
This is a beautiful and sad poem about love. The one who fall in love with others has got
painful, and this pain has grown. His/Her life was empty without other.
Important quotations:
During sleepless nights
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I pretend that the past isn’t real

It brings back how I used to feel
So much sadness in my hopeless life
Never knew things would change so fast
You are not here and I’m alone
Trying to run away from the pain that has grown
I feel so empty now that you are gone
This one is for you
And these words aren’t brand new
Though it’s coming from the heart
Thank you for the life you’ve given me
Thank you for the hope I’mfinally here
You’ll always be in my mind

Hood, Thomas. “Silence.” Poetry Out Loud. 16. Dec. 2010

Summary:
This is a poem about silence. Thomas describes what silence means to him.
Important quotations:
There is a silence where hath been no sound,
There is a silence where no sound may be,
In the cold grave—under the deep deep sea,
Or in the wide desert where no life is found,
Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound;
No voice is hush’d—no life treads silently,
But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free,
That never spoke, over the idle ground:
But in green ruins, in the desolate walls
Of antique palaces, where Man hath been,
Though the dun fox, or wild hyena, calls,
And owls, that flit continually between,
Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan,
There the true Silence is, self-conscious and alone.
Purpose:
Meursault was also a person who always keeps his silence. He didn’t care to
communicate with people and to share his thought. He keeps his silence as this world is
also silence, and bored. And the life is also seems silence to him, and means nothing.