"the stranger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)
At Celeste's, an "odd-looking little woman" asks Meursault if she might join him at his table. As you may have noticed, Meursault observes the people around him with great clarity and with an almost photographic precision, as if each person were a specimen under a lens. Once this woman joins Meursault, she takes no notice of him; but he watches her intently. The way she moves reminds Meursault of a robot. She takes off her jacket and studies the menu, then adds up the bill in advance and places the exact amount--plus tip--on the table, before she's even eaten!
Readers have interpreted the function of the robot-woman in the novel in a number of ways. Some feel that she epitomizes a machinelike, antihuman aspect of the world--rigid, inflexible, out of touch with the rhythms of the universe. Other readers feel that Meursault identifies with her in some way; like him, they argue, she's a stranger, alone, lost in her own world. Remember that part of the tension of the novel hinges on the dualism between a structured world, in which people go to work at the same time every day and return home at the same time each evening, and a world that's less structured, where events flow easily and haphazardly into one another. In what ways does Meursault's own life embody both these qualities?
At the door of his house Meursault meets Salamano, who tells him that the dog is definitely lost. Meursault invites Salamano into his apartment and suggests that he find another dog to replace the lost one. Meursault isn't really interested in Salamano's problems, or so he confesses to us, but he has nothing better to do and, for a change, doesn't feel like going to sleep. You might want to contrast Salamano's unhappiness at the loss of his dog with Meursault's indifference at the death of his mother.
NOTE: Uncertainty surrounds virtually all the relationships in The Stranger. Salamano doesn't know for certain that his dog is lost. Meursault doesn't know whether he loves Marie. He also doesn't know the exact age of his mother when she died. Most people, according to Camus, live in fear of what's going to happen to them next. Camus believed that acceptance of the inevitability of one's own death was the only way to exist in an uncertain and indifferent universe.
Salamano tells Meursault how, as a young man, he'd wanted to be an actor, but eventually turned to a job on the railroad. (His life, like Meursault's, is another case of thwarted ambition.) He admits that he and his wife had never gotten along well but that when she died he'd felt lonely. A friend offered him a puppy, whom Salamano treated like a baby, feeding it first from a bottle. Meursault, in one of his few attempts to please someone else, tells Salamano that his dog appeared to be "well-bred." From the conversation, you can see that Salamano, despite the fights he had with his dog, obviously had a serious emotional investment in the relationship.
Before leaving, Salamano informs Meursault that some neighbors had been critical of him for sending his mother to the nursing home. Salamano assures Meursault that he knew how much the latter was devoted to his mother, but, nevertheless, the criticism surprises Meursault. He doesn't understand why people should think badly of him for his treatment of his mother. He explains that he hadn't been able to afford keeping her with him and that for years they'd never talked to one another. Going to the home, where she could make friends, was the best thing for her, he feels.
^^^^^^^^^^THE STRANGER: CHAPTER VI
On Sunday, the day of the outing with Raymond and his friends, Meursault wakes up feeling "under the weather." His head is aching, his first cigarette tastes bitter, and he has trouble getting out of bed. Although Meursault loves to go swimming, we get the impression he'd be just as happy staying at home doing nothing. (Recall how he spent the Sunday after his mother's funeral.)
This Sunday will be one of the most important days in Meursault's life. His bad mood on waking seems to foreshadow the events to come. Perhaps his mood is a warning that he should stay home.
Marie, on the other hand, is excited about the excursion. Ironically, she tells Meursault that he looks like "a mourner at a funeral." More than two weeks have passed since his mother's funeral. Some people think that Marie is being thoughtless when she tells Meursault that he resembles a mourner. Others think that if Meursault had truly been in mourning over his mother's death, she would have been more sensitive to his feelings.
NOTE: ON FREEDOM Real freedom, on Meursault's terms, is the freedom to be indifferent--the freedom not to love, not to feel ambition or grief. Some readers think that by becoming so involved with Marie and Raymond, Meursault is compromising his sense of freedom. Others feel that his headache, on the day of the outing, is a signal that his involvement with other people is becoming too much for him to handle. Still others claim that his involvement with Marie and Raymond has changed his attitude toward himself. He is no longer free to concern himself solely with his own physical comforts.
Marie and Meursault wait outside for Raymond. In the street, however, the glare of the sun hits Meursault in the eyes "like a clenched fist." Marie is anxious to have a good time and doesn't pay much attention to Meursault. (Does it surprise you that Marie--so involved in ideas of love and marriage--shows so little sensitivity to her lover's feelings?) instead, she keeps exclaiming, "What a heavenly day!" When Raymond finally appears, his straw hat makes her giggle,, but Meursault is put off by Raymond's high spirits and his outfit.
As they walk toward the bus stop, they notice some Arab men leaning against the tobacconist's window. One of the men, according to Raymond, is the brother of his girlfriend. Meursault observes the way the Arabs are staring at them--"as if [they] were blocks of stone or dead trees." Meursault tells Marie that one of the Arabs holds a grudge against Raymond, and she insists that they hurry off to the bus stop.
On the bus ride Meursault notices that Raymond is attracted to Marie. Occasionally Marie gives Meursault reassuring looks, as if worried that he might be feeling jealous. Why do you think that Marie doesn't bring up Raymond's fight with his girlfriend, an incident that affected her so disagreeably?
The beach is on the outskirts of Algiers. As they walk to the water, Marie innocently swings her bag against the petals of the flowers. Her carefree nature is muted by Meursault's observations of the "half-hidden" houses on the edge of the beach and the "metallic glint" of the sky. In contrast to Marie's feeling that the day is heavenly, for Meursault it has become hellish and foreboding, like a nightmare.
Raymond introduces Meursault and Marie to Masson and his wife, who live in a small bungalow near the beach. Meursault compliments Masson on his house and notices that Marie and Masson's wife are getting along. For the first time, he tells us, he "seriously considers" the possibility of marrying her.
Some readers feel that Meursault knows instinctively that his life is about to change. Like Masson, Meursault would like to have a house at the beach where he could go with Marie on weekends. But the instinct to rebel against all the trappings of a conventional life--marriage, a house at the shore--is too much a part of Meursault's personality to ever change. Can you imagine Meursault working overtime to save money to buy a house?
As usual, Meursault begins to feel better with the combination of warm sunlight and cold, refreshing water. He and Marie take a long swim together. He notes how their "movements matched" and how they "were both in the same mood, enjoying every moment." A little later, they return to the bungalow, where Meursault eats and drinks with great appetite, so much so that he begins to feel "slightly muzzy." Meursault, Masson, and Raymond, in the spirit of the moment, discuss the possibility of spending all of August on the beach together, sharing expenses. Marie announces that it's only 11:30, which surprises everyone. Why do you think time is important here? Remember that the novel begins with a question of time--when Meursault's mother died, whether it was yesterday or today. Some readers feel that the element of time--of knowing the exact time is one way of creating order in an unstable universe.
After lunch, Meursault, Masson, and Raymond head back to the beach. Once outside, Meursault observes that "the glare from the water sear[s] one's eyes." Recall his mention, earlier in the chapter, of the glare of the sun, how it "hit [him] in the eyes like a clenched fist." Recall also that, as part of Camus's outlook when he wrote The Stranger, nature--and the universe in general--is indifferent to the plight of human beings. Many readers feel that in this scene Meursault becomes a victim of the natural elements. His ability to appreciate the pleasures of the physical world--lying in the sun, bathing--backfires. The sun, once a symbol of peace and pleasure, becomes a demonic force from which Meursault, as if hypnotized, is unable to escape.
The three men walk along the shore. While Masson and Raymond talk about people whom Meursault doesn't know, Meursault is concerned only with the sun beating on his bare head. Once again, he feels groggy, paralyzed, half-asleep.
Meursault notices two Arabs coming toward them from the other end of the beach. Raymond quickly discovers that one of them is his girlfriend's brother. The two groups of men confront one another on the sand, which Meursault observes is as "hot as fire." Raymond approaches one of the Arabs, who lowers his head, as if to butt Raymond in the chest. Raymond lashes out at the man and calls to Masson for help. Masson attacks the second Arab and knocks him into the water. As Raymond turns to Meursault and shouts out with bravado, "I ain't finished with him yet," the Arab quickly pulls a knife and cuts Raymond on the arm and mouth.
The Arabs back away, one holding the knife in front of him, then race off down the beach. Masson and Meursault help Raymond, who appears to be badly wounded, back to the bungalow. Raymond decides that the wounds aren't serious, but Masson, just to be sure, takes him to a nearby doctor. Meursault stays behind with Marie and Madame Masson, both of whom are upset by the incident. Meursault doesn't like the idea of having to explain what happened. Instead, he stares Meditatively at the sea.
Raymond returns from the doctor in a bad mood and insists on going for a walk by himself on the beach. Despite his insistence that he wants to go (can you think why he might want to?) Meursault follows him.
The two men walk to the end of the beach and come upon the two Arabs lying on the sand. One of them is playing the same three notes over and over again on a reed flute. The other Arab stares at them without saying anything. Raymond reaches into his pocket as if to pull out a revolver and unexpectedly asks Meursault if he should shoot one of the Arabs. Meursault, who usually responds "without thinking" to what people say to him, weighs his response briefly. Then he advises Raymond not to do anything unless the Arab threatens or insults him. "If he doesn't get out his knife," Meursault tells his companion, "you've no business to fire."
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