The Stranger Questions

The Stranger Questions

Part One Questions: Each response must have many sentences to offer a comprehensive response. – Please work on embedding your evidence from the text.

1.  The funeral happens first in the text and becomes a very important part of the story. How does the funeral impact Meursault, and does he think it has impacted him?

2.  Compare chapter 2 (meeting Marie) to chapter 1 (the funeral). How do these two chapters contrast?

3.  Salamano’s ugly dog is regularly beaten by his owner. What does Meursault think of the dog and his owner? Why does Camus include the story of Salamano’s dog? (possible foreshadowing…)

4.  What impact does Raymond’s dilemma have on Meursault? What are his thoughts?

5.  How does Meursault end up on the beach with the gun?

Part Two Questions: Each response must have many sentences to offer a comprehensive response. – Please work on embedding your evidence from the text.

1.  Why is Meursault on trial? (“I accuse this man of burying his mother with crime in his heart!”) Don’t assume it is solely because he murdered the Arab.

2.  What evidence is there for and against him? How do the characters (see list below) judge him? You need to create the chart.

Character / Is For Meursault / Is Against Meursault / Explain Why?

3.  What does Meursault expect from the trial? What do the others expect from the trial?

4.  What are his last thoughts? How does he refuse the chaplain?

5.  THE PEOPLE: What is the role of each of the individuals in the novel? What does each symbolize? Which characters, if any, are essential?

Witnesses at the Trial

·  the director of the home

·  the caretaker from the home

·  old Thomas Pérez

·  Raymond

·  Masson

·  Salamano

·  Marie

·  Céleste

Other characters

·  Maman

·  the other mourners at the home

·  Meursault’s boss

·  Raymond’s mistress and the Arab man

·  the little woman from the restaurant

·  Meursault’s lawyer

·  the prison magistrate

·  the presiding judge

·  the chaplain

6.  Meursault’s seemingly estranged relationship with his mother is questioned. What do you think of Meursault’s relationship with his mother? Did he love her or care about her? Does it or should it matter to the trial?

7.  The title is also translated “The Outsider.” Who is the “stranger” or the “outsider”? Why?

8.  THE SETTING: How does the setting (Algeria) impact the novel? How would it have been different had it taken place in Paris? (“It’s dirty. Lots of pigeons and dark courtyards. Everybody’s pale.” )

9.  What role does the sun play in the novel? Make sure to offer plenty of examples throughout the novel.

10.  THE PLOT AND THEMES: What happens in The Stranger? What drives the plot? Did you, personally, like the plot? Some of Meursault’s accounts of what happened seem rushed or bored or a little confused. Do you believe Meursault? Is he a reliable narrator?