Symbolic References In The Stranger, By Albert Camus

Throughout the short novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus contains symbolic references that are portrayed throughout the novel. Meursault, the protagonist of this story, is portrayed as a cold, emotionless, and strange being. He lacks emotion and sometimes seems to be afraid of it as well. The sun and the heat is a constant symbol throughout the novel. Meursault is constantly attacked by the sun and its heat. It can be brushed off as a lack of tolerance for heat or as a part of Meursault's strangeness. However, the sun is the only thing that seems to hinder Meursault. Perhaps the true antagonist of this novel is the sun and its unbearable heat. Despite the fact that everything else in the world cannot phase Meursault the sun can easily take

The day his mother’s funeral is being held, turns out to be a scorching day. Meursault barely pays attention to the funeral, the heat holding his attention. The nature of the sun is to bring heat whether it’s pleasant or not. Meursault says that “The glare from the sky was unbearable.” (16). This shows his inability to deal with the heat at early stages. He is focused on the sun forgetting that around him people were mourning his mother’s death. He ignores the fact that his mother is dead and instead tries to rid the glare of the sun. The glare of the sun represents the glare of society at Meursault’s indifference towards death. This first encounter with the sun gives the readers a glimpse into Meursault’s beliefs. It begins to shape and influence Meursault’s belief on humanity and life. For instance, as the procession comes to an end he talks with the village nurse who states, “She said, ‘If you go slowly, you risk getting a sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.’ She was right. There was no way out.” (17). This shows how the heat doesn’t stop for one’s life. There’s a cycle of events that you can’t escape and the heat helps to make the cycle continue. In the cycle we call life, death awaits at the end and then it is the end of one life. Death is the relief to the cycle of human life and to Meursault these are times

There is psychological damage done when the heat is unbearable. On his trip to the beach with Marie and Raymond, the sun is constantly added into his descriptions. The sun makes an appearance into Meursault’s narration when something critical or symbolic towards the meaningless of life is presented. The more scorching moments are presented as the narrative the moments of the meaninglessness of human life is brought into greater relief. For example, when Raymond hands Meursault a gun to use for self defense, he narrates, “The sun glinted off Raymond’s gun as he handed it to me.” (56). The sun makes an appearance in his narration because a gun has the power to end a life. Society stiffens at the thoughts of a gun in a person’s hand. It brings them fear and tension. It makes Meursault think of what he should do compared to what he feels. As Meursault’s philosophy is that life holds no meaning if the sun; a natural force allows death to occur and disregards humanity he ignores the sun’s warnings. Once Meursault receives the gun, the sun’s heat suddenly grows unbearable for Meursault causing pain physically and psychologically. Physically he feels the intense heat hitting him causing dizziness, but mentally he feels the sun cutting into his mind. According to the text it states, “...the Arab drew his knife and held it up to me in the sun. The light shot off the steel and it was like a long flashing blade cutting at my