This month we will be reading a rather short fiction (123p):
**The Stranger** by **Albert Camus**

**Main Theme**: The absurdity of human existence, the indifference of the universe to human struggles, and attaining a paradoxical freedom by accepting life’s meaninglessness.

**Plot Overview**

1. **Part 1**:

* **Meursault**, a detached and apathetic French Algerian, learns of his mother’s death but shows no grief. He attends her funeral with indifference.
* He begins a relationship with **Marie** and befriends his neighbor **Raymond**, a violent pimp.
* During a trip to the beach, Meursault kills an Arab man in a moment of existential confusion, triggered by the blazing sun and disorientation.

2. **Part 2**:

* Meursault is arrested and put on trial. The prosecution focuses not on the murder itself but on his **emotional detachment** (e.g., not crying at his mother’s funeral) as evidence of his moral guilt.
* He is sentenced to death. In prison, he confronts the meaninglessness of life and embraces the absurd, finding peace in the indifference of the universe.

**Key Themes**

1. **Absurdism**:

* Life has no inherent meaning, and human attempts to find logic or purpose are futile. Meursault’s actions (and lack of remorse) reflect the absurdity of existence.
* *“Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. […] Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me.”*

2. **Existential Authenticity**:

* Meursault refuses to conform to societal expectations of grief, love, or remorse. His honesty about his indifference makes him an “outsider” (the original French title).
* Society condemns him not for murder but for rejecting its moral theater.

3. **Indifference of Nature**:

* The sun, heat, and sea symbolize the universe’s apathy. The murder occurs not from malice but from sensory overwhelm.

4. **Freedom Through Absurdity**:

* By accepting life’s meaninglessness, Meursault attains a paradoxical freedom. He dies content, having rejected illusions of hope or redemption.

**Relevancy to book club**

* **Philosophical Impact**: A cornerstone of **absurdist literature**, challenging readers to confront life’s lack of inherent meaning.
* **Modern Resonance**: Explores alienation in a bureaucratic, judgmental society—themes that echo in modern discussions of mental health and social conformity.
* **Contrasts**: Unlike Nietzsche’s *Übermensch* or Sartre’s radical freedom, Camus’ hero finds liberation in surrender, not mastery.

**Discussion Questions**

1. Is Meursault a **sociopath** or an **existential hero**? Does his honesty make him immoral?
2. How does Camus use **nature** (sun, heat, sea) to symbolize the universe’s indifference?
3. Can we reconcile Meursault’s peace at the end with the horror of his crime?
4. How does the trial critique **society’s performative morality**?
5. Does *The Stranger* offer a path to happiness, or is it purely nihilistic?

Kayan

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The Stranger by Albert Camus (fiction)

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The Stranger by Albert Camus (fiction)

Philosophy and Psychology book club

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