Albert Camus was born in Algeria on November 7, 1913. As a child, he grew up in poverty in the proletarian neighborhood of Belcourt. Camus had a natural talent, which was seen by his teacher, and sooner or later, he won a high school scholarship. While still at school, he loved playing football, but he wanted to end up playing professionally. Sadly, this dream was soon ended for him, because he had a disease called tuberculosis. But things started getting better for him, because with the support of his uncle, he developed his love of literature. Another person that was a great influence on him was Jean Grenier, who was his high school philosophy teacher. Grenier helped persuade Camus to be active in the Algerian Communist Party. When Camus met a lady named Simone Hie who was an actress, they got married, but their marriage was very difficult. This was because Simone had a drug problem, which was that she was addicted to morphine, and she would also embarrass him in public, and sleep with his friends. Sooner or later, both of them divorced in the year of 1940. Also, Camus was never a Marxist, and was against the ideas of Lenin and Stalin. Then in 1938, he became a reporter for a recently founded newspaper called the Algerian Republican. His job was to cover the Algiers, and this job was in many ways beneficial for him. But later on Camus moved to Paris, because his job was changed. He did not like Paris at all, because he knew no one there. On the bright side, while Camus was in Paris, he found his time to pursue more in his writing. He wrote the book The Stranger, which was published in July 1942, and also The Myth of Sisyphus was brought in three months later in October.Camus had also continued to be the editor of Combat, and put on a production of The Misunderstanding. A while later, Camus was re married for a second time to Francine Faure. They had twins children named Jean and Catherine. in the year of 1946, he was well-received in lecture tour of the United States. Then in 1947, his best selling novel was seen, which was called The Plague. As the years passed, he had suffered much more serious illness from tuberculosis. But then in 1957, he was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature. Sadly, on January 4th, 1960, Camus was killed in a car accident.
Characters and Character Traits
Meursault: He is the protagonist and also the narrator of the story. He is very emotionally indifferent to others, even when it comes to his mother, and his love, Marie.He is a static character, because his attitude does not change at all in the story. even when his beliefs are being tested during his trial, he knows what he believes in, ans will not change his mind about anything. He is a very non-religious man, and he is also a man who seems very careless about everything. He is a major character in the story.
Marie Cardona: She is a former co-worker of Meursault, who has an affair with him,the day after his mother's funeral. She is also a static character in the story, because her attitude stays the same throughout the story. She is a major character in the story, because she looks at Meursault like no one does; she is very drawn to his strange ways and thinking. She also wants to support him during his trial. Overall, Marie is a very spirited, young lady, who just wants the best for Meursault.
Raymond Sintes: In the story, he is considered to be a local pimp. and Meursault's neighbor. He is also one of the major characters characters in the story, because he is one of the closest friends that Meursault has. He is a dynamic character, because in the beginning of the story, he acts like he is just using Meursault to do what he wants; but towards the end, he actually wants to help him through his arrest and trial. But, unlike Meursault, he is a very violent, and abusive man, who behaves with more emotion.
Themes and Symbols:
Themes: Be careful to not let people judge a book by its cover, because they may judge you wrong.
Even though society will seem to be against you, just make sure you know what you believe in,
and prove them wrong.
Symbols: The Courtroom - The courtroom symbolizes the society as a whole, and their laws.
The Crucifix - The crucifix symbolizes Christianity, in which Meursault is opposed to. And it
also symbolizes the belief structures in general for the society.
Important Quotes:
"In the darkness of my mobile prison I could make out one by one, as if from the depths of my exhaustion, all the familiar sounds of a town I loved and a certain time of day when I used to feel happy" (Camus 97).
- This quote matters, because Meursault is feeling like he is getting that sense that he is in a happy place, because he is remembering all of the good memories that he had in the past, even though he is in a prison. He knows that he will probably not be happy ever in his life after this trial.
"But everybody know life isn't worth living" (Camus 114).
- This quote is saying that Meursault is finally tired of life, and what it has to offer him. This quote matters, because he is realizing that the trial is really going off topic, and is not even focusing on the main topic. The trial is just mentioning things about his emotions, and how he felt toward his mother. He could not stand it any longer.
