The Stranger follows the story of a man named Meursault throughout his time in Algiers. The story starts out with Meursault finding out about the death of his beloved mother, Maman. Meursault is surprisingly unaffected and calm throughout his grief period. While on a beach, he runs into an old co-worker, Marie Cardona, and invited her to go see a movie. Throughout the story, their relationship grows a bit and she has concerns over whether or not Meursault truly loves her. Meursault informs her that it does not mean anything, and when she later asks him if he wants to get married, he says that it makes no difference to him. Meursault goes through his entire life with this mentality-that nothing truly matters.
Meursault becomes friends with a man named Raymond, who tells Meursault about the beating he gave his mistress. Meursault and Marie then overhear loud noises coming from Raymond’s room and a cop appeared. Raymond had beaten his mistress again and asked Meursault to cover for him, which he did. While walking on the beach with Raymond and some friends, they run into the mistress’ brother and his Arabic friend. Raymond attempts to shoot the brother, but Meursault talks him out of it. Later on, for no apparent reason, Meursault shoots the Arab. He is immediately arrested and thrown into jail. Meursault shows no signs of remorse or guilt or anger, which immediately annoys the judge and his own lawyer. He is deemed “Monsieur Antichrist” and sentenced to death by beheading. While in prison, Meursault discovers that human life has no actual meaning and he deems himself a “freeman” while imprisoned. The story ends with Meursault happy.
Meursault becomes friends with a man named Raymond, who tells Meursault about the beating he gave his mistress. Meursault and Marie then overhear loud noises coming from Raymond’s room and a cop appeared. Raymond had beaten his mistress again and asked Meursault to cover for him, which he did. While walking on the beach with Raymond and some friends, they run into the mistress’ brother and his Arabic friend. Raymond attempts to shoot the brother, but Meursault talks him out of it. Later on, for no apparent reason, Meursault shoots the Arab. He is immediately arrested and thrown into jail. Meursault shows no signs of remorse or guilt or anger, which immediately annoys the judge and his own lawyer. He is deemed “Monsieur Antichrist” and sentenced to death by beheading. While in prison, Meursault discovers that human life has no actual meaning and he deems himself a “freeman” while imprisoned. The story ends with Meursault happy.