The Stranger Passivity Quotes Page 2
Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Matthew Ward's translation, published by Vintage International published in 1989.
| Quote #4 I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all. (1.5.3) |
For Meursault, being "not dissatisfied" is the same as being happy.
| Quote #5 It was only after Marie’s first and last visit that it all started. From the day I got her letter (she told me she would no longer be allowed to come, because she wasn’t my wife), from that day on I felt that I was at home in my cell and that my life was coming to a standstill there. (2.2.1) |
At this juncture in the book, Meursault is at a crossroads, transitioning from free man to caged man.
| Quote #6 At that time, I often thought that if I had had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowing overhead, little by little I would have gotten used to it. (2.2.10) |
Meursault, because of his passivity, can be content in any circumstance.
