73 pages • 2 hours read
Albert CamusThe Stranger
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1942A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Part 1, Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Whose death does the narrator announce in the book’s first line?
2. What surprises Meursault about the director’s plans for his mother’s funeral?
3. Whom does Meursault meet while he is swimming, in Chapter 2?
4. How do Meursault and Emmanuel get to Celeste's on Monday?
5. Why does Raymond Sintès tell Meursault that he wants Meursault’s advice in particular?
Multiple Choice
1. What does Meursault say made his mother happy in the care home?
A) She enjoyed the activities.
B) She had many friends there.
C) She was accustomed to it.
D) She could get medical care there.
2. What offer of the caretaker’s does Meursault feel embarrassed for refusing?
A) He offers to open the casket so Meursault can see his mother.
B) He offers to get a priest to counsel Meursault.
C) He offers to bring the doctor to explain how Meursault’s mother died.
D) He offers to show Meursault the room where his mother lived.
3. How does Marie react when Meursault tells her that his mother died the previous day?
A) She is startled.
B) She is apathetic.
C) She is skeptical.
D) She is sad.
4. Meursault implies that Raymond Sintès makes money in what way?
A) He sells drugs.
B) He is a smuggler.
C) He is a thief.
D) He is a pimp.
5. What is the real cause of the altercation between Raymond Sintès and the man he fought with before running into Meursault in Chapter 3?
A) The man called Sintès an “Arab.”
B) Sintès beat up the man’s sister.
C) The man owed Sintès some money.
D) Sintès was having an affair with the man’s wife.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. After Meursault announces his mother’s death, what details does he share with the reader, and what does this reveal about his state of mind?
2. Who is the woman who cries during the vigil for Meursault’s mother, and what is Meursault’s reaction to her?
3. What does Meursault tell his boss about his mother’s death that he has to stop himself from also saying to Marie?
4. Why does Meursault break his usual routine on the Sunday after his mother’s death, and what does he spend the day doing?
5. Describe Meursault’s perception of Salamano’s relationship with his dog.
Part 1, Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. Where do Meursault and Marie go on their date on Saturday?
2. When Meursault returns to his apartment building after spending time playing pool with Sintès, what is Salamano upset about?
3. What is Sintès worried about when he calls Meursault at work?
4. Where do Meursault and Marie go with Raymond Sintès at the beginning of Chapter 6?
5. How do the “Arab” men fend off Raymond and Masson’s attack?
Multiple Choice
1. What does Meursault tell Marie on Sunday morning that makes her look sad?
A) He misses his mother.
B) He does not think that he loves her.
C) Salamano beats his dog.
D) Raymond Sintès beat up a woman.
2. When Meursault’s boss offers him a new position that would allow Meursault to live in Paris and travel for part of the year, how does Meursault feel?
A) excited
B) anxious
C) ambivalent
D) embarrassed
3. What word best characterizes the woman who sits down to eat her dinner at Meursault’s table at Celeste’s?
A) eerie
B) nosy
C) awkward
D) robotic
4. Whom does Meursault feel unable to face after he and Raymond Sintès return from confronting the “Arabs” on the beach for the second time?
A) the women
B) Masson
C) the police
D) Raymond
5. Before he shoots the man on the beach, what does Meursault say about the sun?
A) It will start going down soon and give them all some relief.
B) The sun is the same as it was on the day of his mother’s funeral.
C) The sun is the real observer, because God does not exist.
D) Its light on the water makes the ocean look like shards of glass.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What causes the police to be called to Meursault’s apartment building, and how are Meursault’s and Marie’s reactions different?
2. What event in Meursault’s past showed him that ambition is unimportant, and how does this philosophy cause Meursault to upset his boss?
3. How is Meursault’s response to Marie’s question about marriage similar to his response to his boss earlier the same day?
4. In Chapter 6, how does Meursault’s reaction to the sun change during the course of the day?
5. What realization does Meursault have when Raymond Sintès hands him his gun on the beach and Meursault has the sensation of everything suddenly becoming still?
Part 2, Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. What does Meursault say the interrogation seems like to him?
2. What does the examining magistrate pull out of a file cabinet drawer to show Meursault?
3. What does Meursault tell the head guard he cannot stop thinking about?
4. How does Meursault learn to pass the time in prison?
5. Which person at Meursault’s trial gives Meursault the impression of being watched by himself?
Multiple Choice
1. What is the first problem with Meursault’s case that his attorney presents to him?
A) his behavior on the day his mother died
B) his prior testimony on Raymond Sintès’s behalf
C) his possession of a gun belonging to Raymond Sintès
D) his comments in the interview with the examining magistrate
2. How does Meursault think the attorney feels about him when he says that he will not lie about his feelings?
A) impressed
B) amused
C) disgusted
D) puzzled
3. What makes Meursault start feeling as though he is really in prison and it is now his home?
A) the letter from Marie
B) He gets used to the food.
C) the friendliness of the guards
D) His bedding starts to smell like him.
4. What does Meursault say is the hardest part about being in prison at first?
A) The Arab prisoners harass him for killing an Arab.
B) His thoughts are still those of a free man.
C) He has a hard time adjusting to a new routine.
D) The prison officials do not seem to understand him.
5. In Chapter 3, what phrase does Raymond Sintès use over and over in court to describe Meursault’s involvement in his dispute with the “Arab”?
A) It was “a mix-up.”
B) It was “not like it sounds.”
C) It was “just chance.”
D) It was “a favor for a pal.”
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is Meursault’s reaction to the examining magistrate who interrogates him at the beginning of Part 2?
2. What detail of the shooting that the examining magistrate asks Meursault about does Meursault struggle to explain?
3. Briefly describe Meursault’s visit with Marie.
4. What is Meursault’s reaction to the large crowd and the reporters in the courtroom?
5. What testimony about Meursault and his mother does the director of the care home offer?
Part 2, Chapters 4-5
Reading Check
1. What does Meursault feel his trial is mainly about?
2. What emotion does Meursault say he is unable to feel?
3. When he is finally able to speak, at the end of his trial, what reason does Meursault give for the murder?
4. At the beginning of Chapter 5, whom does Meursault keep refusing to see?
5. What does the chaplain say to Meursault that makes Meursault so angry that he grabs the man and shouts at him?
Multiple Choice
1. At the beginning of Chapter 4, what does Meursault find frustrating about his trial?
A) Much of the evidence is inaccurate.
B) Marie is treated badly by the prosecution.
C) He does not think he should be on trial at all.
D) He is not really allowed to participate.
2. What does the prosecutor claim is true about Meursault?
A) He is a sociopath.
B) He has no soul.
C) He does not love his own fiancée.
D) He thinks of Arabs as less than human.
3. What does Meursault feel when he finally catches Marie’s eye at the end of the trial?
A) hope
B) sadness
C) remorse
D) nothing
4. In Chapter 5, what story about his father does Meursault recall?
A) His father once accidentally killed a man.
B) His father did not see the point in marriage.
C) His father once attended an execution.
D) His father never wanted to have a child.
5. What word does Meursault use to characterize his life when he is describing yelling at the chaplain?
A) fateful
B) absurd
C) pathetic
D) comical
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. According to the prosecutor, why does Meursault have no place in society?
2. Toward the end of his attorney’s summation, what does Meursault find himself thinking of?
3. At the beginning of Chapter 5, how is Meursault spending his time?
4. Why does Meursault come to the conclusion that “it doesn't much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy”? (Part 2, Chapter 5)
5. At the end of the novel, how does Meursault feel that he understands his mother in a new way?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Part 1, Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Meursault’s mother, or maman (Part 1, Chapter 1)
2. They are religious. (Part 1, Chapter 1)
3. Marie (Part 1, Chapter 2)
4. They jump on the back of a truck as it passes them. (Part 1, Chapter 3)
5. because Meursault is a man (Part 1, Chapter 3)
Multiple Choice
1. C (Part 1, Chapter 1)
2. A (Part 1, Chapter 1)
3. A (Part 1, Chapter 2)
4. D (Part 1, Chapter 3)
5. B (Part 1, Chapter 3)
Short-Answer Response
1. After Meursault announces his mother’s death, he explains the details of how he will travel to the care home where she died and then describes his boss’s irritation over his asking for two days off. He is concerned with the practicalities surrounding the death rather than the emotions. (Part 1, Chapter 1)
2. The woman who cries throughout the vigil is an elderly woman from the care home who tells the caretaker that Meursault’s mother was her only friend, and now she feels totally alone. Meursault is irritated by her crying and wishes that she would stop. (Part 1, Chapter 1)
3. Meursault tells his boss that his mother’s death was not his fault, and he later has to stop himself from saying the same thing to Marie. (Part 1, Chapters 1 and 2)
4. Meursault usually has lunch at Celeste's, but he does not go on the Sunday after his mother’s death because he is aware that they will ask questions, and he does not like that idea. He makes himself lunch and spends the day smoking, reading the paper, and watching the people of his neighborhood from his balcony. (Part 1, Chapter 2)
5. Salamano has a dog with a skin condition that thins its hair and makes its skin scabby. Meursault thinks that the man and his dog look a lot alike. Salamano is consistently cruel to the dog, and Meursault thinks that Salamano and the dog hate each other. (Part 1, Chapter 3)
Part 1, Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. to the beach (Part 1, Chapter 4)
2. Salamano’s dog is missing. (Part 1, Chapter 4)
3. A group of men are following him. (Part 1, Chapter 5)
4. Raymond’s friend’s (Masson’s) beach house (Part 1, Chapter 6)
5. with their knives (Part 1, Chapter 6)
Multiple Choice
1. B (Part 1, Chapter 4)
2. C (Part 1, Chapter 5)
3. D (Part 1, Chapter 5)
4. A (Part 1, Chapter 6)
5. B (Part 1, Chapter 6)
Short-Answer Response
1. The police arrive because a neighbor called them when Raymond Sintès was beating up a woman in his apartment. After witnessing the altercation among Sintès, the woman, and the police officer, Marie is too upset to eat much of her lunch, but Meursault’s appetite is unaffected. (Part 1, Chapter 4)
2. When Meursault was a student, he had ambitions for his life, but then he had to give up his studies. This made him realize that having a life that he is content with is all that matters and that ambitions are pointless. When his boss offers him a promotion, he tells his boss that he doesn’t really care about it one way or another. (Part 1, Chapter 5)
3. When Marie asks Meursault if he wants to marry her, he tells her that they can get married if that’s what she wants, but that he does not care about it either way. Neither the proposed promotion nor the proposed marriage matter to Meursault. (Part 1, Chapter 5)
4. When Meursault is first on the beach with Masson and Marie, early in the day, he enjoys the sun so much that he is distracted from what Masson is saying as he thinks about how much good the sun is doing him. But later, after lunch and a lot of wine, the directness of the early afternoon sun bothers Meursault so much that he finds it “unbearable.” (Part 1, Chapter 6)
5. Meursault says that in the sudden stillness, he has the realization that “you could either shoot or not shoot.” (Part 1, Chapter 6)
Part 2, Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. a game (Part 2, Chapter 1)
2. a crucifix (Part 2, Chapter 1)
3. women/sex (Part 2, Chapter 2)
4. remembering things in detail (Part 2, Chapter 2)
5. the bright-eyed reporter (Part 2, Chapter 3)
Multiple Choice
1. A (Part 2, Chapter 1)
2. C (Part 2, Chapter 1)
3. A (Part 2, Chapter 2)
4. B (Part 2, Chapter 2)
5. C (Part 2, Chapter 3)
Short-Answer Response
1. Meursault struggles to take the man seriously at first, but as they talk, Meursault looks at him more carefully and finds him to be a good-looking, pleasant, and reasonable older man. In fact, he has an instinct to shake the man’s hand at the end of their interview, but then he remembers why he is being interrogated and thinks better of it. (Part 2, Chapter 1)
2. Meursault has a hard time explaining why he shot the man once and then, after a pause, shot four more times at a man who was already lying on the ground. (Part 2, Chapter 1)
3. When Marie comes to visit him, Meursault is bothered by the noise of all of the other prisoners and visitors talking. Marie tries to cheer him up and talks positively about their future together, but he has a hard time focusing on anything other than the noise and wanting to be able to touch Marie. (Part 2, Chapter 2)
4. Meursault is puzzled by the large crowd, because he does not think that people generally pay much attention to him. When it is explained to him that there has been a lot of media attention, he notices the reporters. When one of the reporters warmly greets the officer Meursault is with, Meursault realizes that many people in the courtroom know one another, and it makes him feel like “an intruder.” (Part 2, Chapter 3)
5. The director of the care home says that Meursault’s mother complained about his having put her in the home. He recounts Meursault’s indifferent-seeming behavior on the day of his mother’s funeral and says that, according to one of the undertaker’s employees, Meursault did not even know how old his mother was when she died. (Part 2, Chapter 3)
Part 2, Chapters 4-5
Reading Check
1. him as a person, not his crime (Part 2, Chapter 4)
2. remorse (Part 2, Chapter 4)
3. the sun (Part 2, Chapter 4)
4. the chaplain (Part 2, Chapter 5)
5. that he will pray for Meursault (Part 2, Chapter 5)
Multiple Choice
1. D (Part 2, Chapter 4)
2. B (Part 2, Chapter 4)
3. D (Part 2, Chapter 4)
4. C (Part 2, Chapter 5)
5. B (Part 2, Chapter 5)
Short-Answer Response
1. The prosecutor claims that Meursault has no place in society because he has no regard for its values and no understanding of human emotions. (Part 2, Chapter 4)
2. Meursault thinks of the simple pleasures of his former life and realizes that these things are no longer his. All he can see is how pointless the trial is, and he just wants to get back to his cell and sleep. (Part 2, Chapter 4)
3. After he is sentenced to death, Meursault is moved to a new cell, where he can see the sky. He lies on his bed looking at the sky and tries to imagine whether there is any way he can escape from his upcoming execution. Sometimes he imagines new ways to execute criminals that would give them at least some chance of escaping death. (Part 2, Chapter 5)
4. Meursault decides that, since other people will keep living and the world will continue on for thousands of years without you, it does not matter how long your individual life is. He realizes that death will be a similar experience for him whether it happens now or in twenty years, and that there is thus no reason to prefer one lifespan to another. (Part 2, Chapter 5)
5. When he realizes how close his own death is, Meursault suddenly understands the last years of his mother’s life, how the care home was like a pause before dying in which she felt ready to live her life all over again--because he suddenly feels exactly the same way. (Part 2, Chapter 5)
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