Analyzing Albert Camus 'The Stranger'

The Stranger - Journal Topic Six

A human life is made up of patterns. More often than not, the events of a day fit into an established schedule for any given person. Reoccurences are the commonality- much more unusual would be the life which was composed solely of originality. It is much the same in books, after all, most intend to reflect some aspect of reality. However, patterns in books tend to have more significance to them than patterns of a real life, since the author has painstakingly considered the exact ingredients to add to their work, and in what quantities. Nothing is added without a purpose, so if something reoccurs in a book, beyond the mundane circumstances, chances are, there is a weighty purpose. In Albert Camus’ The Stranger
The first sentence of the novel is, “Maman died today,” written directly as a straight fact, undiluted by emotion. This first sentence lets a reader know that they have not picked up a light book. After all, if one does not want a book stained with death, one chooses a book that at least waits for the second sentence before killing off characters that have not yet been introduced. This first death is the most impactful out of the entire book, because Meursault’s reaction, or rather, lack of reaction to it will become increasingly important when readers reach the end of the
After all, the prosecutor builds his case nearly exclusively on the unfeeling response of Meursault to his mother’s death. In the end, it isn’t really the fact that Meursault has killed a man that gets him executed, as much as it is that Meursault was emotionally unattached to his mother. Regardless, though, of which death is believed to be the most important, there is just one more that a reader is still waiting on at the novel’s