Important Facts and Notes of The Outsider or The Stranger

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Title: L’étranger (translated as The Stranger orThe Outsider)
Author:  Albert Camus
Language:  English - Translated from French
Genre(s):  Philosophical novel,  Existential novel; Crime drama
Publication: 1943, French 1942
Exploration: The novel explores different philosophical schools of thought, including  absurdism, as well as determinism, nihilism, naturalism, and stoicism.
Setting:
a) Time:  Slightly before World War II
b) Place:   Algeria
Themes :  The irrationality of the universe; the meaninglessness of human life; the importance of the physical world; free will; colonialism
Narrator and Point of view: Meursault narrates in the first person and limits his account to his own thoughts and perceptions. His description of the other characters is entirely subjective—that is, he does not attempt to portray them in a neutral light or to understand their thoughts and feelings.
Tone:  Detached, sober, plain, at times subtly ironic

Characters
Meursault-- a French Algerian; honest but indifferent to the society; shows emotional detachment from his environment - even from his mother's death, Marie's love the Arab's murder
Marie Cardona-- Meursault's former co-worker whom he meets in a sea beach. She represents the enjoyable life Meursault wants.
Raymond Sintes-- the neighbor of Meursault who beats his mistress which causes a conflict with the Arabs. He brings Meursault into the conflict which ultimately results in Meursault killing the Arab. 
Masson-- Raymond’s friend, the owner of the beach house
The Chaplain  --  A priest who attends to the religious needs of condemned men
Thomas Perez  --  One of the elderly residents at the old persons’ home
The Caretaker -  A worker at the old persons’ home
The Director -  The manager of the old persons’ home
Celeste -  The proprietor of a café where Meursault frequently eats lunch
The Prosecutor -  The lawyer who argues against Meursault at the trial
Salamano -  One of Meursault’s neighbors. His strong grief over losing his dog contrasts with Meursault’s indifference at losing his mother. 
The Arab  -  The brother of Raymond’s mistress

Story Facts
  • Meursault lives in-- Algiers
  • His mother had been living in-- in an old persons’ home in Marengo
  • Meursault comes to his mother but doesn't see her after her death 
  •  The day after his mother's death, Meursault goes to the public beach where he spends a happy time with Marie
  • Meursault helps Raymond Sintes to write a letter to lure his mistress and thus torment his mistress
  • Meursault doesn't know if he loves Marie yet he is engaged with her
  • Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house where a fight breaks out between Raymond and the Arab, brother of Raymond's mistress
  • For no apparent reason, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother
  • Meursault is arrested and thrown into jail. Meursault is asked to declare his faith in God but he refuses. The magistrate dubs him “Monsieur Antichrist.”
  • Meursault adjusts to living without nature, women, and cigarettes adjusts  and soon does not even notice their absence.
  • The people testify Meursault's abnormal behavior. He is called monster whose lack of moral feeling threatens all of society and found guilty and is eventually sentenced to death by beheading.
  • In the prison, the chaplain urges Meursault to renounce his atheism and turn to God, but Meursault refuses and declares that he is correct in believing in a meaningless, purely physical world. He accepts the “gentle indifference of the world.” and feels happy.

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