In the novel The Stranger, Albert Camus creates a story of a young French Algerian man who is accused of murder and eventually sentenced to death, albeit his crime was an act of self-defense. Although the story may appear to be simple and insignificant upon first reading, it is actually enigmatic and highly consequential.

To better understand the message and importance of The Stranger, one has to consider the time at which The Stranger was written and published. The year is 1942 and Camus, who lived through two world wars, is about to start writing for the French Resistance' newspaper named Combat. This is a time when death, destruction, and injustice are all around. Camus is surrounded by an absurd and failing legal and social system, which is a constant source of frustration. With this in mind, The Stranger can be viewed as a direct reflection of the "system" in which Camus and most other Europeans are trapped. By illustrating the absurdity of a surrounding social and legal system, The Stranger questions authority and alerts society of the system that has run amok.

Through Meursault, Camus illustrates exactly how absurd and decayed the social and legal system has become. During the trial scene in which Meursault is being questioned about various facts that have little or nothing to do with his actual crime, the prosecutor first emphasizes the fact that Meursault admitted his mother to a home for old people instead of taking care of her himself. Second, he calls to the court's attention the fact that Meursault did not cry at his mother's funeral. And finally, because of these two facts, the prosecutor absurdly exclaims that Meursault morally murdered his mother. From here the prosecutor begins to describe a crime of parricide which is to be tried by this same court on the following day. He then continues:

Is the death penalty being called for because Meursault is guilty of parricide? But Meursault killed another man, not one of his parents! Here Camus illustrates the absurdity of the social and legal system Meursault is trapped in. The court is not concerned with the physical crime, Meursault's killing of the Arab. Instead, because his mother died and he didn't cry at her funeral, he is now being accused of a completely unrelated crime, the crime of parricide. This is the logic of the legal system. But exactly what is Camus' intention by depicting this unfair and illogical version of a trial? By illustration the absurd argument that convinces the court to sentence Meursault to death, Camus illuminates exactly how far from the truth the legal system is.

Camus extracts the naked truth as the one element to pursue in order to overcome a world in decay. Nicola Chiaromonte, a scholar, wrote in 1946 that "[i]n a world which is intrinsically absurd, what can man do? This is Camus' question" (105). To answer this question one can turn to Camus' "Preface to The Stranger." Among other important issues, Camus explains that it is inaccurate to describe Meursault as "a piece of social wreckage" just because he is unwilling to follow the arbitrary rules and norms of society. Camus then continues:

Camus explains that the "truth" is a treasure. Whether it is positive or negative, comforting or discomforting, relieving or harsh, it is the only treasure we possess. Only the truth will expose how we feel and think, which is a necessity if we are to amend this immoral world. As Nicola Chiaromonte so accurately asserts, "[p]essimism or optimism, God or suicide, Reason or Unreason, are all attempts to jump out of the real problem by giving it a final solution. Camus calls them "refusals to acknowledge" (105). The "truth" is the only constant with which we can rebuild a failing society.

Camus' The Stranger acts as a red flag, alerting society of a system that has run amok. Donald Lazere, a scholar at Yale University, wrote in 1973 that "The Stranger... [is a] revolt against the social absurdity of conventional morality and arbitrary legal authority...(106). Is this what Camus hopes to accomplish by depicting a failing legal and social system, we may ask? Well, if we consider that at the time when Camus writes and publishes The Stranger Europe is deeply immersed in World War II, then it is apparent that Camus is hoping to spur a change in his reader's thinking and thereby the general public, a change from the constant lies that have been decaying his world (Europe) to a more truthful and honorable existence is his intent.

To examine this interpretation more closely, one has to consider carefully the very last sentence of The Stranger. During the final hours of Meursault's life he reflects on the life he has lived. He thinks about his mother, as he always does in time of adversity. And eventually he enters into a state of happiness and then declares: "For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate." While this may seem inexplicable, it can be viewed as Meursault's desire to make a statement. He wants a "large crowd" to get emotionally involved in his execution; he wants his death to not be in vain; he wants his cause to be remembered. If we look back at Meursault's court battle against the system, it becomes apparent that it is a battle with two opposing sides: Meursault representing truth, and the system representing absurdity and dishonesty. To die for the truth, if necessary, in defiance of dishonesty and absurdity is a noble death. This is the statement Meursault wants to impose on a "large crowd," which in turn is the statement Camus hopes will influence his readers.

Making a statement to cause a change in society was an idea many artists pursued during the years of the two world wars. Dada, an art movement utterly different from any previously seen, was in direct conflict with well-established mainstream art. Also troubled by the state of society, struggling with questions of how Europe had let itself succumb to such evil and atrocity, Dada sought to question all rules. Outrageous art pieces like Bicycle wheel (see picture) were admitted into galleries. Like The Stranger, they raised questions about the authorities. Who is to say that a stool with a bicycle on top is not art, for example? And who is to decide which rules apply and which don't, and why? These and countless other questions were asked in all forms of art.

While there is no one-and-only interpretation of The Stranger, and while there is no way of being exactly sure about what Camus hoped to accomplish with the novel, there are a few things we can be absolutely certain of. For example, in creating a story about a man who is sentenced to death because he does not adhere to any arbitrary social codes, and because he is subject to a prosecutor who absurdly manages to accuse him of a crime he has had no part in, Camus is sure to raise questions in his readers about the morality of the social and the legal system. Furthermore, stating that "without [the truth] no conquest of ourselves or of the world will ever be possible" and not fully explaining what that means, he is sure to raise further questions. Rachel Bespaloff very accurately describes in an article written five years after World War II ended in Europe, that in The Stranger "nothing is explained but everything is revealed..."(109). Therefore, asserting that Camus' intention is to question the system that is out of control is not incorrect, especially considering it is 1942 at the time of publishing. Furthermore, to say that Camus hopes to spur a change is then equally to the point.

With this in mind, The stranger is an uplifting and reassuring novel, although the contrary is frequently concluded. It is comforting to know that even at a time of war when society's rules and ideology are strict, a time when any deviation from conventional norms is sure to have fatal consequences, a man like Camus is not afraid to express his discontent with the system. In an attempt to use Camus' own figurative language I conclude: In a time with shadows covering most of Europe, The Stranger is a ray of sunlight.

Bespaloff, Rachel. "The World of Man Condemned to Death." Esprit. (Jan. 1950)

Camus, Albert. "Preface to The Stranger."

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1989.

Chiaromonte, Nicola. "Albert Camus. "The New Republic 17 (April 1946), 630-633;

Lazere, Donald. The Unique Creation of Albert Camus. (Yale UP, 1973), 271;