"the stranger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

A week passes. Raymond has dropped by to say he'd mailed the letter to his girlfriend. Meursault and his coworker, Emmanuel, have seen two movies, but we are not told the names of the movies. (Why do you think Meursault tells you about the roller towel at work, yet neglects to give details about other aspects of his life?) You can assume that this is a typical week in Meursault's life.

On Saturday, Marie and Meursault go to the beach. Her physical presence stirs him out of his normal lethargy. He takes pleasure in just being with her, staring at her, enjoying her beauty and sensuality. At the beach they swim together on their backs. They fill their mouths with the foamy spray from the waves and "spout it out against the sky." Afterwards, they embrace and hurry back to Meursault's apartment, where they make love under the open window.

The next morning Marie asks Meursault whether he loves her. Meursault says that the question has no meaning to him, but that he supposes he doesn't. Marie appears upset at first by Meursault's response but manages to shrug off her disappointment.

NOTE: MEURSAULT'S ATTRACTION Recall Marie's reaction when she first met Meursault and learned of his mother's death two days before: "By evening [she] had forgotten all about it." It's possible that Meursault's indifference to human emotions like love and grief attracts Marie to him, as if she, too, feels there is something insincere about these feelings as defined by society. Or maybe his spontaneity and impulsiveness, and his unwillingness to conform, are what appeal to her most. Meursault's elusiveness--his unwillingness to commit himself emotionally to another human being--might also be a source of her interest.

A moment of tenderness between Meursault and Marie is shattered by the sounds of a violent quarrel between Raymond and his girlfriend. Meursault and Marie join the crowd in front of Raymond's apartment and can hear Raymond beating the woman. Marie suggests that Meursault call a policeman, but he responds that he doesn't like policemen.

This is another of the rare instances in which Meursault expresses an opinion. (Previously, he has indicated that he doesn't like Sundays.) Some readers feel his dislike of the police indicates a dislike of authority in general. Others think that the reference to the police is a way of foreshadowing events in the second part of the novel. Is Meursault's response to this situation selfish? Apparently, it doesn't matter to him that someone may be getting hurt, or that Raymond, for whom he's just done a favor, beats women. What's important to him are his own feelings--in this case, his dislike of the police.

Another tenant in the building arrives with a policeman. Raymond, a cigarette dangling between his lips, finally opens the door. The policeman orders Raymond to take the cigarette out of his mouth. After a glance at Meursault (for approval?) Raymond defiantly continues smoking, and the policeman smacks him in the face. The policeman accuses Raymond of being too drunk to stand up steadily, but Raymond isn't drunk at all--he's trembling with anger.

NOTE: Camus used the term "anti-hero" to define a person who accepts the meaninglessness of life, yet who continues living as if life has meaning. In his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, written about the same time as The Stranger, Camus posed the question whether to commit suicide when one is faced with the utter indifference of the universe. To the anti-hero, suicide is not a solution. Instead, the anti-hero accepts his state of being, concentrating on experiencing the pleasures of the moment.

Meursault and Marie return to his apartment, but the scene at Raymond's has upset her and she leaves. After she goes, Meursault takes a nap. It seems he's capable of going to sleep at any given moment. You should note other places in the novel when Meursault sleeps after upsetting scenes or circumstances.

Later in the day, Raymond knocks on Meursault's door. He's worried about Meursault's reaction to his confrontation with the policeman. Had Meursault, Raymond wants to know, expected him to defend himself against the policeman? Meursault tells him that he hadn't expected anything. Questions about proving one's masculinity according to the traditional codes of society play as small a part in Meursault's way of thinking as questions about grief or love.

Raymond asks Meursault if he'll testify to the police, that the woman had been unfaithful to him. Meursault, always willing to go along with the spirit of the moment, even if he doesn't understand how his testimony will be of any value, agrees. Do you feel that Meursault's behavior is inconsistent? Some readers think that getting involved with Raymond is Meursault's way of testing his relationships to society. Others feel that he's acting against his principles by letting himself get involved with Raymond's problems. As the story unfolds, consider the consequences of Meursault's relationship with him.

The two men go drinking in a cafe. Raymond proposes that they visit a brothel, but Meursault declines. On their way home they meet Salamano, who is frantically looking for his dog. Raymond tries to reassure Salamano by telling anecdotes about dogs that have returned to their masters, but Salamano is afraid that the police will find and destroy the dog. Meursault says that Salamano should inquire at the pound where stray dogs are taken: and that for a small charge the dog will be returned to him. At the idea of paying money in exchange for his dog, Salamano flies into a rage and begins cursing the lost animal.

A few minutes after Meursault returns to his room, Salamano knocks, his hands trembling, and asks Meursault to reassure him once again that the police won't take away his dog.

NOTE: MEURSAULT'S EMOTIONS Salamano and Raymond are both caught up in love-hate relations: Salamano with his dog, Raymond with his girlfriend. Both men are controlled by their emotions. Compared to the erratic behavior of Raymond and Salamano, Meursault's passivity and his apparent indifference to life seem almost like virtues. His self-control impresses people like Raymond and Salamano. Since he rarely expresses opinions, people feel that he's not judging them. Salamano and Raymond seek his advice because they're attracted to his nonemotional way of viewing the world.

Why do you think the visit from Salamano makes Meursault think of his mother? Does he envy Salamano's ability to feel emotion for his dog? Does Meursault, at this moment, want to be like everyone else?

^^^^^^^^^^THE STRANGER: CHAPTER V

Raymond calls Meursault at work and invites him to spend the following Sunday at a friend's bungalow outside Algiers. He assures Meursault that Marie can come along as well. Raymond also says that he thinks some Arabs, including the brother of his girlfriend, are following him. He asks Meursault to be on the lookout for any Arabs hanging around the house.

Meursault's boss calls him into his office. Meursault is certain that he's going to be scolded for talking on the phone, but instead his boss offers him a job at a proposed branch office in Paris. Meursault's employer assumes that anyone would jump at the chance to move to Paris, but Meursault couldn't care less. When his boss suggests that "a change of life" might be good for him, Meursault answers that he's comfortable in his present situation, and has no particular interest in or reason for making a move.

Some readers feel that Meursault's unwillingness to accept the job in Paris relates directly to the title of the book. If he were to move to Paris, they argue, he would truly be a stranger, out of place, forced to focus on the minute details of merely surviving. The irony of this interpretation lies in the fact that Meursault already acts as if he were a foreigner, unaware of the customs of the world in which he presently exists, a world where a display of emotion at the death of your mother is expected of you, and where lack of ambition--turning down a better job--is frowned upon. Others feel that Meursault's actions indicate a conscious rebellion against the norms of society, on all levels.

Meursault's boss is surprised at his lack of ambition. When Meursault returns to his desk, he gives us a brief glimpse of his past. "As a student," he says, "I'd had plenty of ambition." Then he was forced to give up his studies (you are not told why) and began to realize that ambition, like everything else, was pointless, and could only lead to disappointment.

NOTE: As you read, refer to "The Author and His Times" and see how often Camus incorporates events from his own life into the book. For example, when he was 17, he suffered a bout of tuberculosis. Just as Meursault had to give up his studies, so Camus was forced to abandon his dreams of becoming a teacher.

Marie visits Meursault that evening and asks him to marry her. He says that he doesn't "mind," and if it will give her pleasure, he'll marry her. When she asks if he loves her, he again replies that the question means nothing, but that he supposes he doesn't. Marie then asks whether he'd consent to marry any other girl he liked who asked him, and Meursault answers, "Naturally," not concerned that he might be hurting Marie's feelings. But his answer does hurt her and makes her wonder whether she really loves Meursault. She tells him that he's a "queer fellow" but that that was probably the reason she loved him. "But maybe," she adds mysteriously, "that's why one day I'll come to hate you." What do you think she has in mind?

Yet nothing Meursault says bothers Marie for very long. Sensing that marriage is important to her, Meursault agrees to marry her whenever she wants. He tells her about the possibility of moving to Paris, and we learn that he once lived there. In his eyes, however, it's "a dingy sort of town," with "masses of pigeons and dark courtyards."

NOTE: Remember that you're reading a translation from the French. Stuart Gilbert, the translator, has Meursault describe Paris as "a dingy sort of town," whereas in the French, Camus simply writes "C'est sale" ("It's dirty"). In a book such as The Stranger, where the language a character uses is important in order to understand motivation, one must take into consideration such changes in the text.

Meursault suggests to Marie that they dine together at Celeste's. Coyly, she answers that she's already "booked" for the evening, implying a date with someone else. Not surprisingly, Meursault doesn't think of asking what she's doing. It's only, when Marie asks if he's not curious that he mentions he did want to know.