The Significance of the Title in the Stranger by Albert Camus Essay

In this world everyone starts off as a stranger, and any relationship, be it family, friend, or enemy, starts off with two or more people venturing off from this state of being a stranger. Albert Camus, author of the novel The Stranger, displays the significance the title plays on the developement of the novel through the many characters that were strangers and some of their encounters with other people in the novel. One situation that shows the significance of the title is how Meursault's mother is somewhat a stranger in his eyes. Though they lived together before she was sent to the old folks home in Marengo, they both lived two totally different and separate lives from each other. One of the reasons for her being sent to the home was because they were in a sense strangers to each other. Neither one of them was happy nor did neither of them know how to please each other or make the other one happy. "For the first few days she lived with me...she cried allot" (Meursault page 5). Even after her death, Meursault's mother's social and private life still remained mostly a mystery to him. Meursault comes to realize this when he finds out his mother has started her life over and has a fiance he didn't know of, Mr. Thomas Prez. Another element in the novel that further more displays the significance of the title is the relationship between Meursault and Raymond. Before Raymond invites Meursault over to his house for a snack, Raymond is a stranger. Meursault only knows of Raymond from what he's seen or heard, and finds that he gets to know the person Raymond only after their little social hour uver Raymond's house. In this case, as in almost all others, the barrier between friendship and being a stranger can only be broken down when two or more people make the effort to get to know...

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