The Stranger Theme of Mortality

The Stranger opens with an announcement of death; Salamano’s old dog is in a state of decay; the protagonist murders, and is then sentenced to execution. The centrality of death, as a concept, is perhaps Camus’s way of forcing us to confront the continuum of varying attitudes on this universal, yet distinctly absurdist, theme. In The Stranger, death is inevitable and does not lead to an afterlife. The novel concludes with the revelation that death is what makes all men – indeed all living creatures – equal. Everyone has to die, therefore no one man is privileged over any other man (or living being).

1. How does Meursault’s view regarding death changed over the course of the book? In what ways has it stayed the same?
2. In what sense is murder and execution one and the same in The Stranger?
3. At the very end of the book, Meursault’s epiphany is spurred by reminiscing about his mother’s actions near her own death. What are some possible conclusions he has drawn? Why does he ultimately accept and welcome his own demise?

From the beginning to end, Meursault’s view towards death has morphed and matured from indifference, to fear, and finally, to acceptance.

Rather than investigating issues material to the actual crime committed, the prosecutor has put Meursault on trial for being indifferent to his mother’s death. To the prosecutor, the trial was meant to convict a cold-hearted rebel, not to address the heinousness of either "crime."