The Stranger Society and Class Quotes Page 6
Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Matthew Ward's translation, published by Vintage International published in 1989.
| Quote #16 The reporters […] all had the same indifferent and somewhat snide look on their faces. One of them, however, much younger than the others, wearing gray flannels and a blue tie, had left his pen lying in front of him and was looking at me […] examining me closely without betraying any definable emotion. And I had the odd impression of being watched by myself. (2.3.7) |
The courtroom spectators represent society, and are there to judge Meursault, the detached, nonconforming outsider. Ironically, however, the spectators are a rather detached group themselves. Even more ironically, Meursault identifies with one of them, signifying that he is also beginning to judge himself using society’s rubric.
| Quote #17 For the first time in years, I had this stupid urge to cry, because I could feel how much all these people hated me. (2.3.14) |
Meursault’s first tears! If he doesn’t care about society, why does he cry? Perhaps he has begun to assimilate their values: his tears aren’t because they hate him; they are because he hates himself.
| Quote #18 [The caretaker] answered the questions put to him. He said I hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that I had smoked and slept some, and that I had had some coffee. It was then I felt a stirring go through the room and for the first time I realized that I was guilty. (2.3.15) |
Meursault begins to assimilate society’s judgments of him.
