The Stranger

At first, Meursault is reluctant to discuss his time in jail. He admits that the first few days were particularly difficult. In a crowded jail cell, he confesses to a group of Algerian Arabs that he murdered someone just like them. Though the men are wary of him at first, they teach him how to use his sleeping mat. Later, he is placed in a cell on his own. Sometime after, the monotony of his life is broken up by Marie’s first and only visit. Their meeting is awkward, but she insists that he must remain hopeful. Once he is freed, she says, they will get married and go swimming together. Throughout the conversation, however, Meursault is more interested in the other prisoners. Sometime later, Meursault receives a letter from Marie explaining that she is not allowed to visit him because she is not his wife.

Meursault misses his old life of smoking cigarettes and swimming in the sea, but he soon settles into the rhythm of prison. He reminds himself that there are “others in the world worse off” (61), an idea his mother impressed on him in his youth. Meursault confides in the chief jailer that he mostly misses “the desire for a woman” (61). The jailer says this is true of most people. Meursault befriends the jailer, who remarks that Meursault is smarter than most prisoners. Meursault also suffers from not being allowed to smoke cigarettes, but he eventually adjusts. The only persistent problem is boredom, so Meursault relentlessly explores his own memories.

Sleeping passes a lot of time in the cell. When he is awake, Meursault ponders his memories and the story of the Czech. The story of the Czech comes from a scrap of newspaper found on the underside of the cell mattress. The incomplete newspaper story tells of a man from Czechoslovakia who makes a fortune abroad and then returns to his small village with his wife and child, wearing a disguise to surprise his family. The Czech man’s family fail to recognize him and, noticing the money in his pocket, they kill him during the night. The man’s wife discovers his true identity and the family kill themselves. Meursault reads the story over and over. Between long periods of sleep, the memories, and the newspaper story, Meursault passes the time.

Another summer arrives and Meursault’s trial begins. The lawyer believes that the trial will last a few days as the court has more important issues to deal with. Meursault is taken from the prison to the court. He admits that he is not nervous but quite interested to witness a trial first hand. Meursault studies the jury in the hot, stuffy courtroom. He is surprised by the amount of people present, but a policeman explains that the newspapers have drummed up interest in the case. Even the newspapers in Paris have taken an interest in Meursault’s case, though they are more interested in another trial that will take place afterward, in which someone is accused of killing their parent.

The trial begins. Meursault struggles to keep up with the administrative procedures, but he is surprised by some of the names on the witness list, including Sintes, Masson, Salamano, and Marie. The list even includes Celeste and the “quaint little woman” (68) from the restaurant whom Meursault tried to follow one night. The judge explains to the audience that he expects an orderly trial.

Meursault is examined in the court, answering many of the same questions asked by the magistrate. The judge asks why Meursault sent his mother to live in a retirement home. The prosecutor changes the subject to the murder and, once he is finished, the court takes a break. Meursault is taken back to the prison, fed lunch, and then taken back to the court before he figures out what is happening. The courtroom becomes even hotter and stuffier, and Meursault feels the audience’s eyes lingering upon him. When the trial begins again, the warden of the retirement home gives a statement. He says that Meursault seems uninterested in his mother’s death. The warden points out that Meursault could not remember his mother’s age. The prosecutor seems satisfied. Meursault realizes that many people in the room hate him.

More witnesses give evidence that Meursault did not show any emotion at his mother’s funeral. Meursault begins to understand that he is “guilty” (71). Celeste provides a defense of Meursault’s character but is cut short by the judge. Marie is questioned. At first, she refuses to divulge intimate details of her relationship with Meursault, but the prosecutor insists. The prosecutor informs the court that, on the day after his mother’s funeral, all Meursault could think about was sex and entertainment. Marie bursts into tears and tries to argue with him. She is led away. Masson and Salamano give statements but they are largely ignored.

Sintes is the final witness. He explains the complicated backstory between himself and his mistress’s brother, insisting that Meursault’s presence on the beach was a “pure coincidence” (75). The prosecutor disputes this idea of chance and, by forcing Sintes to describe his profession as a pimp, turns the jury against the witness. The prosecutor suggests that Meursault was acting out “some sordid vendetta in the underworld of prostitutes and pimps” (76). He insists that there is a link between Meursault’s moral character and the murder. Meursault’s behavior at his mother’s funeral shows, in the prosecutor’s opinion, that Meursault is “a criminal at heart” (77). Meursault’s lawyer shrugs, and the court rises to consider the case. Meursault is taken back to prison.