The Stranger is not merely one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, but one of the books likely to outlive it. Written in 1946, Camus's compelling and troubling tale of a disaffected, apparently amoral young man has earned a durable popularity (and remains a staple of U.S. high school literature courses) in part because it reveals so vividly the anxieties of its time. Alienation, the fear of anonymity, spiritual doubt--all could have been given a purely modern inflection in the hands of a lesser talent than Camus, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and was noted for his existentialist aesthetic. The remarkable trick of The Stranger, however, is that it's not mired in period philosophy.The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. "She wanted to know if I loved her," he says of his girlfriend. "I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with "the gentle indifference of the world" remains as compelling as it was when Camus first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. "She wanted to know if I loved her," he says of his girlfriend. "I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with "the gentle indifference of the world" remains as compelling as it was when Camus first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
fight club/the stranger timed writing
Directions: In preparation for the conclusion of our reading of Albert Camus’s The Stranger, you were asked to view the film Fight Club. For this assignment, you must compose a well-written essay that answers the prompt below. Be sure to use MLA formatting and citation. You are expected to use both evidence from the film and the novel.
Prompts: Choose one of the following:
“This is your life and it is ending one minute at a time”
“When you have insomnia, you're never really sleep … and you’re never really awake”
“I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.”
“F*&% damnation. F$#@ redemption. We are God’s unwanted children. So be it.”
Guidelines:
Prompts: Choose one of the following:
- Compare Meursault and the narrator (Edward Norton) in terms of their characterization. How are the two similar and what makes the two different?
- Meursault and the narrator are both mean struggling to find meaning in life. Why men? What is the message about masculinity and violence and the lack of fulfillment in both Fight Club and The Stranger?
- How are Meursault, the Narrator, and John Wade similar creatures?
- The narrator attends life-support meetings and consequently sees death as resurrection, an opportunity for new beginning. How is this true for the narrator and Meursault (and even John Wade)?
- Choose one of the following quotes as the claim for a short essay using the movie and novel for support.
“This is your life and it is ending one minute at a time”
“When you have insomnia, you're never really sleep … and you’re never really awake”
“I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.”
“F*&% damnation. F$#@ redemption. We are God’s unwanted children. So be it.”
Guidelines:
- You may use your notes from the film and the novel when you write this essay.
- Look over the rubric on the back of this sheet to familiarize yourself with the grading criteria.
- Your introduction should begin with an attention getter, some information about the topic, and a solid, arguable claim. Your conclusion should say something more than restating your introduction.
- Please use direct quotes where you can or paraphrased sections for parts you do not. Either way, be specific with your examples AND explain them fully. You need to show how your examples are good support for your argument.
- Use MLA format, and of course, check for grammar errors.
- This is an individual assignment.
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introducing the stranger
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Social Awkwardness |
depression |
Sociopaths... |
Asperger's syndrome |