The Stranger Analytical Essay

The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, is set in the time period right before World War II, around the early 1940s. The protagonist of the story is a frenchman named Meursault who struggles throughout much of the story in a battle with the legal system of his society; this is person vs. society conflict that shows up often. In the exposition of the story, Meursault has received a telegram informing him of the death of his mother. However, Meursault doesn’t really care that his mother has died. In the rising action of the story, all of the events that take place in the rising action help lead up to the climax of the story. Events in the story such as Meursault’s relationship with a woman named Marie, his involvement in Raymond’s affairs and the time when Meursault takes Raymond’s gun all lead to the climax of the story; when Meursault kills an Arab man for no apparent reason. In the falling action of the story, events that occur are the repercussions of Meursault’s actions in the climax. Events in the story such as Meursault being arrested for murder, jailed, tried in court and sentenced to death all occur as a result of Meursault’s actions in the climax. The Stranger is a strange book with twists and turns that readers would not expect. The climax of the story pulls readers in and captivates them to read more.
Camus spent his childhood years living in a small apartment, performing work in the working class suburb of Belcourt in Algiers. He studied at the University of Algiers as a philosophy student. On June 16th 1934, Camus married Simone Hié. In late 1936, Camus and Hié divorced. A few years later, Camus remarried to Francine Faure. Camus became known for his political journalism, novels and essays during the 1940s. His best-known works include The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947). In 1957, Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature. On January 4, 1960, Camus died in Burgundy,