The Stranger

(Redirected from Albert Camus/The Outsider)

The Stranger (L'Etranger) is a book by Albert Camus that tells the story of an alienated man who eventually commits a murder and waits to be executed for it. The book uses an Algerian setting, drawn from Camus' own upbringing.

Usually classed as an existential novel, The Stranger is indeed based on Camus' theory of the absurd. He believes that every person should do as they please and this is explored through the novel's main character, Meursault, who lives by the ideas of the existentialists. This is predominantly shown in the second part of the novel when Meursault defies all ideas of religion and God and lashes out at a priest. The trial seems to be based around the fact that Meursault did not cry at his mother's funeral, something that this society considers unnatural. Another theme is that we make our own destiny, and we are entirely responsible for our actions and their consequences, not God.

The Stranger was a short-lived television series starring Colin Baker?.