The Stranger Summary and Complete Study Guide

At trial, the prosecutor cares more about Meursault not crying at his mother's funeral than the actual murder. Society can forgive killing but not emotional detachment. Meursault refuses to play along with the expected performance of remorse. He gets sentenced to death. A chaplain visits to prepare his soul, but Meursault explodes at him—there's no meaning, no God, no afterlife. We're all going to die anyway, so what's the difference? In his cell, Meursault finally finds a kind of happiness accepting the universe's indifference. Camus presents absurdism: life has no inherent meaning, society's rituals are performances, and the only authentic response is accepting that nothing matters. It's either deeply depressing or weirdly liberating depending on your perspective. The lesson? Society punishes people for not playing along with collective fiction more than for actual crimes.

Published 1942, Camus won Nobel Prize 1957. Foundational text of absurdist philosophy. Widely read and studied for existential themes.