The Stranger Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Stranger follows Meursault, a French clerk in Algiers who reacts to life with calm indifference. A few days after his mother's funeral he shoots a man on a beach for no clear reason. At his trial he is condemned less for the killing than for having shown no grief at his mother's death.
It is one of the defining novels of twentieth-century philosophy and literature.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Meursault | Clerk and narrator |
| Marie Cardona | Young woman he dates |
| Raymond Sintès | Neighbor with a violent temper |
| Salamano | Old neighbor with a mangy dog |
| Masson | Raymond's friend with a beach house |
| The examining magistrate | Official who questions Meursault |
| The prosecutor | Lawyer who argues for his execution |
How does the novel begin?
Meursault receives a telegram saying his mother has died at a care home. He travels there, declines to see her body, smokes and drinks coffee during the vigil and does not cry at the funeral. The next day he goes swimming, meets Marie, a former coworker, sees a comedy at the cinema with her and they spend the night together.
↑ Back to the topWho is Raymond?
Meursault's neighbor Raymond asks him to write a letter luring back a former mistress whom he wants to punish. Meursault agrees, without much thought. Raymond beats her, and Meursault testifies for him with the police. Marie asks Meursault if he loves her; he says it means nothing but probably not. He agrees to marry her anyway.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens on the beach?
Raymond invites them to a friend's beach house. Two Arab men, one the brother of Raymond's mistress, follow them, and a fight leaves Raymond cut. Later, alone in the blazing sun, Meursault walks back along the beach and meets the brother, who draws a knife. Blinded by sweat and glare, Meursault shoots him, then fires four more times into the motionless body.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens at the trial?
Meursault is jailed and slowly gets used to it. At the trial, witnesses from the care home describe his calm at the funeral, and the prosecutor argues that a man who did not weep for his mother has no moral feeling at all. Meursault says only that he fired because of the sun. He is sentenced to death by beheading in public.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Stranger end?
Waiting for execution, Meursault refuses repeated visits from a prison counselor who wants him to find comfort in belief. When the man insists, Meursault explodes in rage, shouting that no certainty is worth anything and every life ends the same way. Afterward he feels calm. He opens himself to the gentle indifference of the world and feels he has been happy. His final wish is for a large, hostile crowd at his execution, so he will feel less alone.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Stranger
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.