PHIL304: Existentialism

8.3: The Stranger

• 8.3.1: Themes

  • Washington State University: Dr. Michael Delahoyde's "Study Notes: Camus, The Stranger"

    Read Dr. Delahoyde's study notes before progressing to the next assignment, in which you will watch a film version of The Stranger. Refer back to these notes when necessary as you progress through Camus' novel.
    

  • Luchino Visconti's The Stranger Page

    Watch Visconti's film adaptation of Camus' seminal novel, The Stranger. As you watch, keep Dr. Delahoyde's study notes in mind. Also consider the following questions: What is the main character's crime? Why has he committed this crime, and why does he think that his defense of the crime is simple? Note how themes from Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" re-appear here.
    

  • Gregory B. Sadler's "Existentialism: Albert Camus, The Stranger" Page

    Listen to this lecture. As you listen, consider the following questions: What does it mean for the character of Meursault, the main character in The Stranger, to be considered a "blank character"? How does Meursault's emptiness lead him to murder a man? What is the significance of Meursault's failure to cry at his mother's funeral? What role does this event play in Meursault's murder trial?
    

• 8.3.2: A Philosophy of the Absurd

  • Stanford University: Dr. Robert Harrison's "Albert Camus - A Conversation with Jean-Marie Apostolidès" URL

    Listen to episode 80, titled "Albert Camus - A Conversation." As you listen to this lecture, consider the role that personal biography played in shaping Camus' philosophy. Refer to the previous units of this course and reflect on how intimately the philosophy of existentialism is tied to Camus' biography.