“The Stranger” is a magical escape
By Ledina Banushllari, Staff Contributor
“The Stranger” is one of the magical novels which is powerful enough to wake up the judgmental sense inside of every reader. Written by Albert Camus in 1945, this novel reflects the absurd style of the author, the reality and the complex human image.
The novel is narrated by Meursault, who is also the protagonist of the book. The first part of the novel starts with a telegram which alerts him of his mother’s death and that her funeral is the next day. That “dry” telegram for such a tragic event, seems to Meursault just senseless. He gets ready, goes to his mother’s funeral and the next day he goes to the beach with his girlfriend.
From the reader’s point of view, this looks emotionless for someone who already lost his mother, but this is Albert Camus’s style. The philosophical sense the author makes isn’t meant for readers to find themselves in the protagonist’s position, but rather it makes them judge from another perspective.
Some days later, Meursault commits a murder. He was trying to take a gun from his friend’s hand and shot an Arab man without reason. For this, Meursault is sentenced to death and one of the absurd facts for this decision is, “Meursault did not cry at his mother’s funeral.” When the judge asks him about the murder, he just tells the truth without putting colors on that. The facts are in front of the reader’s eyes, they have to see them and judge on their own. In Meursault’s trial it seems like he is not participating at all, and the judge is describing a totally different situation and a strange person to them.
In this novel, the reader faces three deaths: Meursault’s mother’s death, the Arab man’s death and Meursault’s death. As for the last death, the author plays with readers’ psychology and lets the reader be the judge in this case. Camus gives the perfect absurd and real example, at the same time, to make the reader understand that the war with the “Absurd” is hard to win and the protest against death is the main pathos in this novel.
What does Meursault do on the day of his death? Does he accept to confess in church, or does he just agree with what the justice system decided for him? Is this the right way to judge someone with death only because he went to the beach the next day after his mother’s death? What message do Meursault’s actions and his death carry for the reader?
In order to have an answer for all these questions, to dive into another world of literature mixed with everyday reality and understand as Meursault says, “I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn’t.” I highly recommend this novel to every reader who is passionate about literature and especially to those who love philosophical and psychological classification.