The Stranger ( , ), also published in English as The Outsider, is a 1942 novella written by French author Albert Camus. The first of Camus' novels published in his lifetime, the story follows Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother's funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault's first-person narrative before and after the killing.
Camus completed the initial manuscript by May 1941, with revisions suggested by André Malraux, Jean Paulhan, and Raymond Queneau that were adopted in the final version. The original French-language first edition of the novella was published on May 19, 1942, by Gallimard, under its original title; it appeared in bookstores from that June but was restricted to an initial 4,400 copies, so few that it could not be a bestseller. Published during the Nazi occupation of France, it went on sale without censorship or omission by the Propaganda-Staffel.
It began being published in English from 1946, first in the United Kingdom, where its title was changed to avoid confusion with the translation of Maria Kuncewiczowa's novel of the same name; after being published in the United States, the novella retained its original name, and the British-American difference in titles has persisted in subsequent editions. The Stranger gained popularity among anti-Nazi circles following its focus in Jean-Paul Sartre's 1947 article "Explication de L'Étranger.
Considered a classic of 20th-century literature, The Stranger has received critical acclaim for Camus' philosophical outlook, absurdism, syntactic structure, and existentialism (despite Camus' rejection of the label), particularly within its final chapter. Le Monde ranked The Stranger as number one on its 100 Books of the 20th Century. The novella has twice been adapted for film: Lo Straniero (1967) and Yazgı (2001), has seen numerous references and homages in television and music (notably "Killing an Arab" by The Cure) and was retold from the perspective of the unnamed Arab man in Kamel Daoud's 2013 novel The Meursault Investigation.
Plot
Part 1
Meursault learns of the death of his mother, who has been living in an old age home in the country. He takes time off from work to attend her funeral but seems to show no signs of grief or mourning to the people around him. When asked if he wishes to view her body, he declines, and he smokes and drinks regular (white) coffee—not the obligatory black coffee—at the vigil held by the coffin the night before the burial.
Back in Algiers, Meursault encounters Marie, a former secretary of his firm. The two become re-acquainted, swim together, watch a comedy film and begin to have an intimate relationship. All of this happens on the day after his mother's funeral.
Over the next few days, Meursault helps Raymond Sintès, a neighbor and friend who is rumored to be a pimp, but says he works in a warehouse, to get revenge on a Moorish girlfriend he suspects has been accepting gifts and money from another man. Raymond asks Meursault to write a letter inviting the girl over to Raymond's apartment solely so that he can have sex with her and then spit in her face and throw her out. While listening to Raymond, Meursault is unfazed by any feelings of empathy, does not express concern that she would be emotionally hurt by this plan and agrees to write the letter.
The girl visits Raymond on a Sunday morning, and the police get involved when he beats her for slapping him after he tries to kick her out. He asks Meursault to testify that the girl had been unfaithful when he is called to the police station, and Meursault agrees. Ultimately, Raymond is let off with a warning.
While this is going on, Meursault's boss asks him if he would like to work at a branch their firm is thinking about opening in Paris and Marie asks him if he wants to get married. In both cases, Meursault does not have strong feelings about the matter but is willing to move or get married if it will please the other party. Also, Salamano, Meursault and Raymond's old neighbor, loses his abused and diseased dog and, despite outwardly maintaining his usual spiteful and uncaring attitude toward the creature, goes to Meursault for comfort and advice a few times. During one of these conversations, Salamano, who adopted the dog as a companion shortly after his wife's death, mentions that some neighbors had 'said nasty things' about Meursault after he sent his mother to a retirement home. Meursault is surprised to learn about this negative impression of his actions.