Keyword Guide · book-summary
This short summary explains the main events and ideas of Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger. It is designed to help students quickly grasp the plot, themes, and significance for class discussion and exams.
The novel follows Meursault, a detached man living in French-colonial Algeria. After his mother’s death, he continues his life with little visible emotion. A series of events leads him to kill a man during a tense encounter. The second half of the novel focuses on his trial, where his lack of emotional response becomes as important as the crime itself.
Meursault is known for his emotional indifference and focus on physical sensations rather than social expectations. He does not pretend to feel emotions he does not have, which puts him at odds with society. His honesty and passivity shape both his actions and the way others judge him.
The Stranger explores themes such as the absurd, meaninglessness, and society’s moral judgment. Camus shows how people search for meaning in a world that may not offer clear answers. The novel also questions whether society punishes actions or the failure to conform to expected behavior.
The Stranger is often studied as an example of absurdist philosophy in literature. Its simple style and unsettling ideas encourage readers to think about free will, responsibility, and honesty. These ideas make it a common choice for essays and classroom debates.
The novel is about a man who lives without pretending to feel emotions and how society reacts to his indifference, especially after he commits a violent act.
He is condemned not only for the crime but also for failing to show expected emotions, such as grief for his mother.
Focus on Meursault’s behavior, the theme of the absurd, and how society judges him. Use specific events from the plot rather than quoting the text.
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