The Stranger Theme Card

Quotes:
1. Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.
2. She said, “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.” She was right. There was no way out.
3.A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn't mean anything but that I didn't think so.
4. I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn't dissatisfied with mine here at all.

Subjects:
1. Alienation
2. Death
3. Indifference

Conflicts:
1. Man v. Reason
2. Man v. Himself
3. Man v. Machine

Vehicles:
1. Irony
2. Imagery- the sun
3. Characterization
3. Tone

Themes:
1. Absurdity is the act of searching for rational order, where none exists.
2. Once we as human realize the meaninglessness of certain aspects of our lives, we can truly find happiness.

Title:The Stranger is a direct reference to Meursault and all those like him who are alienated from the world around them.

Summary: Meursault, the narrator, is a young man living in Algiers. He is unresposive to many emotions others find normal, as displayed in his failure to mourn his mothers death. He shoots and kills the Arab, and when he is on trial, they are more concerned with his lack of emotion then the actually killing.

Characters: Meursault, Maman, the Arab, Marie, Raymond, Salamano