Albert Camus

"Outsider"

Meursault, a petty French official, a resident of the Algerian suburbs, receives news of the death of his mother. Three years ago, unable to support her on his modest salary, he placed her in an almshouse. Having received a two-week vacation, Meursault goes to the funeral the same day.

After a brief conversation with the director of the almshouse, Meursault is going to spend the night at his mother's coffin. However, he refuses to look at the deceased for the last time, talks for a long time with the watchman, calmly drinks coffee with milk and smokes, and then falls asleep. Waking up, he sees his mother's friends from the almshouse nearby, and it seems to him that they have come to judge him. The next morning, under the scorching sun, Meursault indifferently buries his mother and returns to Algiers.

After sleeping for at least twelve hours, Meursault decides to go to the sea for a swim and accidentally meets a former typist from his office, Marie Cardona. That same evening, she becomes his mistress. Having spent the next day at the window of his room overlooking the main street of the suburbs, Meursault thinks that, in essence, nothing has changed in his life.

The next day, returning home after work, Meursault meets neighbors: the old man Salamano, as always, with his dog, and Raymond Sintes, a storekeeper who is reputed to be a pimp. Sintes wants to teach a lesson to his mistress, an Arab woman who cheated on him, and asks Meursault to compose a letter for her in order to lure her on a date and then beat her. Soon, Meursault witnesses Raymond's violent quarrel with his mistress, in which the police intervene, and agrees to act as a witness in his favor.

The patron offers Meursault a new assignment to Paris, but he refuses: life still cannot be changed. That same evening, Marie asks Meursault if he is going to marry her. Like promotion, Meursault is not interested in this.

Sunday Meursault is going to spend on the seashore with Marie and Raymond visiting his friend Masson. Approaching the bus stop, Raymond and Meursault notice two Arabs, one of whom is the brother of Raymond's mistress. This meeting disturbs them.

After swimming and a hearty breakfast, Masson invites his friends to take a walk along the seashore. At the end of the beach, they notice two Arabs in blue overalls. They think the Arabs have tracked them down. A fight breaks out, one of the Arabs stabs Raymond with a knife. They soon retreat and flee.

After some time, Meursault and his friends come to the beach again and see the same Arabs behind a high rock. Raymond gives Meursault a revolver, but there is no apparent reason for a quarrel. The world seemed to have closed and bound them. Friends leave Meursault alone. The scorching heat presses on him, he is seized by a drunken stupor. At the stream behind the rock, he again notices the Arab who wounded Raymond. Unable to endure the unbearable heat, Meursault takes a step forward, takes out a revolver and shoots at the Arab, "as if knocking on the door of misfortune with four short blows."

Meursault is arrested and summoned for interrogation several times. He considers his case very simple, but the investigator and the lawyer have a different opinion. The investigator, who seemed to Meursault as an intelligent and nice person, cannot understand the motives for his crime. "He starts a conversation with him about God, but Meursault confesses his disbelief. His own crime only causes him frustration.

The investigation continues for eleven months. Meursault understands that the prison cell has become his home and his life has stopped. At first, he is mentally still at large, but after a meeting with Marie, a change occurs in his soul. Languishing from boredom, he recalls the past and understands that a person who has lived at least one day will be able to spend at least a hundred years in prison - he will have enough memories. Gradually Meursault loses the concept of time.

The Meursault case is scheduled for hearing at the final session of the jury. A lot of people are crowded in the stuffy hall, but Meursault is not able to distinguish a single face. He gets the strange impression that he is superfluous, like an uninvited guest. After a long interrogation of witnesses: the director and caretaker of the almshouse, Raymond, Masson, Salamano and Marie, the prosecutor pronounces an angry conclusion: Meursault, having never cried at the funeral of his own mother, not wanting to look at the deceased, the next day enters into a relationship with a woman and, being a friend of a professional pimp, commits a murder for an insignificant reason, settling scores with his victim. According to the prosecutor, Meursault has no soul, human feelings are inaccessible to him, no moral principles are known. Horrified by the insensibility of the criminal, the prosecutor demands the death penalty for him.

In his defense speech, the lawyer Meursault, on the contrary, calls him an honest worker and an exemplary son, who supported his mother as long as possible, and killed himself in a moment of blindness. Meursault expects the most severe punishment - inescapable remorse and remorse.

After a break, the chairman of the court announces the verdict: “on behalf of the French people,” Meursault will be beheaded in public, in the square. Meursault begins to wonder if he can avoid the mechanical course of events. He cannot accept the inevitability of what is happening. Soon, however, he comes to terms with the thought of death, because life is not worth clinging to, and if you have to die, it does not matter when and how it happens.

Before the execution, a priest comes to Meursault's cell. But in vain he tries to turn him to God. For Meursault immortal life does not make any sense, he does not want to spend the time left to him on God, so he pours out all the accumulated indignation on the priest.

On the threshold of death, Meursault feels a breath of darkness rise up to him from the abyss of the future, that he was chosen by a single fate. He is ready to relive everything and opens his soul to the gentle indifference of the world.

Meursault, a petty official, receives word of his mother's death. Three years ago, he gave her to a nursing home because he could not support his mother on his salary. On the same day, he draws up a vacation and goes to the funeral.

After a short conversation with the director of the institution, Meursault decides to spend the night at his mother's coffin. However, he does not want to look at his dead mother, and after drinking coffee with milk, he falls asleep. Waking up, he sees his mother's friends from the orphanage in front of him. He thinks they have come to judge him. The next morning, he buries his mother and quietly returns to Algiers. The very next day he meets an employee from his office, Marie Cardona. On the same day, they begin an affair. The next day, standing at the window, Meursault thinks about his life. Nothing has changed in her.

The next day, he meets his neighbors, Salamano and Raymond Sintes. Sintes wants to teach his mistress a lesson, who cheated on him, and asks Meursault to write a letter for her. Meursault soon becomes a witness to a quarrel in which the police intervened. Soon, Meursault's manager offers him a promotion, with a job in Paris. But he refuses. At the same time, Mari asks him about the wedding, but he is not interested in it, nor is he interested in a promotion.

On Sunday, Meursault, Marie and Raymond go ashore to visit their friend Masson. On the beach they meet two Arabs. One of them was the brother of Raymond's mistress. A fight ensues, in which Raymond is stabbed. Friends retreat.

After a while they come back to the beach. Meursault has a revolver. Seeing the Arab who wounded Raymond, Meursault shoots him. He is arrested. He thinks it's easy and doesn't worry. However, the investigator thinks otherwise. He cannot understand the motives for the crime and asks Meursault about God. He says that he does not believe in God, and the crime only annoys him.

Spending time in the cell, Meursault thinks about life. He recalls the past and believes that a person who is in captivity will always have enough memories. On the day of the trial, the prosecutor makes a speech. He considers Meursault a finished man who has no soul. The prosecutor demands the death penalty for Meursault for the murder of an Arab.

By court order, Meursault is sentenced to death. He will be beheaded in public, in the square. At first, he thinks about a possible change in the course of events, but subsequently comes to terms with the verdict.

Before the execution, a priest comes to his cell and tries to turn him to God. But Meursault does not listen to the priest and pours out all the indignation on him. Meursault was executed the next day.

Compositions

In this story, Camus makes the main character a man who feels alienated from everyone.

Meursault is practically devoid of feelings. He does not spare either those around him or himself ... He is not interested in either a career or a family. But that's why he has no meaning in life. His existence, like the heat in Algiers, where the action takes place, is painful.

An event that should have shocked Meursault - the death of his mother also leaves him indifferent. As expected, he goes to the funeral, but not a single tear ... However, the son himself, having left, handed over his mother to the almshouse.

Another event awaits Meursault - love. He meets Maria on the beach - former colleague who soon becomes his mistress.

Then Meursault commits a rather cruel act: he agrees to the request of a friend - to write to his wife, whom he supposedly suspects of treason, a love letter so that her husband can beat her. And in the end, he meets, walking with this friend, the brother of the battered wife. A fight breaks out. In the "second round" a friend, who, by the way, everyone knows as a pimp, takes out a revolver. It turns out that Meursault is left alone with a revolver on the shore. The hero sees that same Arab and shoots. Five times! There was no reason or threat.

The investigator is trying to find out from the arrested person what was the reason for such a murder. Meursault doesn't know. He remembers that he was hot.

The investigator tries to get through to the conscience of Meursault, to his soul, speaks about religion, but all this is an empty phrase for the accused. Meursault himself spends a year in prison. The lawyer says that Meursault always honestly performed his duty.

While the investigation is underway, he is still out of her consciousness, but after meeting with Maria, he realizes that everything is over for him. Indeed, he is sentenced to death. And he waits every night to be taken away in order to cut off his head in the square. He cannot be converted to faith, he considers it stupidity. In his detachment, for the first time, he felt something, albeit fear.

The story teaches not to be separated by a wall from the world.

A picture or drawing of Camus - Outsider

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Meursault, a petty French official, a resident of the Algerian suburbs, receives news of the death of his mother. Three years ago, unable to support her on his modest salary, he placed her in an almshouse. Having received a two-week vacation, Meursault goes to the funeral the same day.

After a brief conversation with the director of the almshouse, Meursault is going to spend the night at his mother's coffin. However, he refuses to look at the deceased for the last time, talks for a long time with the watchman, calmly drinks coffee with milk and smokes, and then falls asleep. Waking up, he sees his mother's friends from the almshouse nearby, and it seems to him that they have come to judge him. The next morning, under the scorching sun, Meursault indifferently buries his mother and returns to Algiers.

After sleeping for at least twelve hours, Meursault decides to go to the sea for a swim and accidentally meets a former typist from his office, Marie Cardona. That same evening, she becomes his mistress. Having spent the next day at the window of his room overlooking the main street of the suburbs, Meursault thinks that, in essence, nothing has changed in his life.

The next day, returning home after work, Meursault meets neighbors: old man Salamano, as always, with his dog, and Raymond Sintes, a storekeeper who is known as a pimp. Sintes wants to teach a lesson to his mistress, an Arab woman who cheated on him, and asks Meursault to compose a letter for her in order to lure her on a date and then beat her. Soon, Meursault witnesses Raymond's violent quarrel with his mistress, in which the police intervene, and agrees to act as a witness in his favor.

The patron offers Meursault a new assignment to Paris, but he refuses: life still cannot be changed. That same evening, Marie asks Meursault if he is going to marry her. Like promotion, Meursault is not interested in this.

Sunday Meursault is going to spend on the seashore with Marie and Raymond visiting his friend Masson. As they approach the bus stop, Raymond and Meursault notice two Arabs, one of whom is the brother of Raymond's mistress. This meeting disturbs them.

After swimming and a hearty breakfast, Masson invites his friends to take a walk along the seashore. At the end of the beach, they notice two Arabs in blue overalls. They think the Arabs have tracked them down. A fight breaks out, one of the Arabs stabs Raymond with a knife. They soon retreat and flee.

After some time, Meursault and his friends come to the beach again and see the same Arabs behind a high rock. Raymond gives Meursault a revolver, but there is no apparent reason for a quarrel. The world seemed to have closed and bound them. Friends leave Meursault alone. The scorching heat presses on him, he is seized by a drunken stupor. At the stream behind the rock, he again notices the Arab who wounded Raymond. Unable to endure the unbearable heat, Meursault takes a step forward, takes out a revolver and shoots at the Arab, "as if knocking on the door of misfortune with four short blows."

Meursault is arrested and summoned for interrogation several times. He considers his case very simple, but the investigator and the lawyer have a different opinion. The investigator, who seemed to Meursault as an intelligent and nice person, cannot understand the motives for his crime. “He starts a conversation with him about God, but Meursault confesses his disbelief. His own crime causes him only annoyance.

The investigation continues for eleven months. Meursault understands that the prison cell has become his home and his life has stopped. At first, he is mentally still at large, but after a meeting with Marie, a change occurs in his soul. Languishing from boredom, he recalls the past and understands that a person who has lived at least one day will be able to spend at least a hundred years in prison - he will have enough memories. Gradually Meursault loses the concept of time.

The Meursault case is scheduled for hearing at the final session of the jury. A lot of people are crowded in the stuffy hall, but Meursault is not able to distinguish a single face. He gets the strange impression that he is superfluous, like an uninvited guest. After a long interrogation of witnesses: the director and caretaker of the almshouse, Raymond, Masson, Salamano and Marie, the prosecutor pronounces an angry conclusion: Meursault, never crying at the funeral of his own mother, not wanting to look at the deceased, the next day enters into a relationship with a woman and, being a friend of a professional pimp, he commits murder for an insignificant reason, settling scores with his victim. According to the prosecutor, Meursault has no soul, human feelings are inaccessible to him, no moral principles are known. Horrified by the insensibility of the criminal, the prosecutor demands the death penalty for him.

In his defense speech, lawyer Meursault, on the contrary, calls him an honest worker and an exemplary son, who supported his mother as long as possible, and killed himself in a moment of blindness. Meursault expects the gravest punishment - inescapable remorse and remorse.

After a break, the chairman of the court announces the verdict: “on behalf of the French people,” Meursault will be beheaded in public, in the square. Meursault begins to wonder if he can avoid the mechanical course of events. He cannot accept the inevitability of what is happening. Soon, however, he comes to terms with the thought of death, because life is not worth clinging to, and if you have to die, it does not matter when and how this happens.

Before the execution, a priest comes to Meursault's cell. But in vain he tries to turn him to God. For Meursault, eternal life does not make any sense, he does not want to spend the rest of his time on God, so he pours out all the accumulated indignation on the priest.

On the threshold of death, Meursault feels a breath of darkness rise up to him from the abyss of the future, that he was chosen by a single fate. He is ready to relive everything and opens his soul to the gentle indifference of the world.

Meursault, a petty French official, a resident of the Algerian suburbs, receives news of the death of his mother. Three years ago, unable to support her on his modest salary, he placed her in an almshouse. Having received a two-week vacation, Meursault goes to the funeral the same day. After a brief conversation with the director of the almshouse, Meursault is going to spend the night at his mother's coffin. However, he refuses to look at the deceased for the last time, talks for a long time with the watchman, calmly drinks coffee with milk and smokes, and then falls asleep. Waking up, he sees his mother's friends from the almshouse nearby, and it seems to him that they have come to judge him. The next morning, under the scorching sun, Meursault indifferently buries his mother and returns to Algiers. After sleeping for at least twelve hours, Meursault decides to go to the sea for a swim and accidentally meets a former typist from his office, Marie Cardona. That same evening, she becomes his mistress. Having spent the next day at the window of his room overlooking the main street of the suburbs, Meursault thinks that, in essence, nothing has changed in his life. The next day, returning home after work, Meursault meets neighbors: old man Salamano, as always, with his dog, and Raymond Sintes, a storekeeper who is known as a pimp. Sintes wants to teach a lesson to his mistress, an Arab woman who cheated on him, and asks Meursault to compose a letter for her in order to lure her on a date and then beat her. Soon, Meursault witnesses Raymond's violent quarrel with his mistress, in which the police intervene, and agrees to act as a witness in his favor. The patron offers Meursault a new assignment to Paris, but he refuses: life still cannot be changed. That same evening, Marie asks Meursault if he is going to marry her. Like promotion, Meursault is not interested in this. Sunday Meursault is going to spend on the seashore with Marie and Raymond visiting his friend Masson. As they approach the bus stop, Raymond and Meursault notice two Arabs, one of whom is the brother of Raymond's mistress. This meeting disturbs them. After swimming and a hearty breakfast, Masson invites his friends to take a walk along the seashore. At the end of the beach, they notice two Arabs in blue overalls. They think the Arabs have tracked them down. A fight breaks out, one of the Arabs stabs Raymond with a knife. They soon retreat and flee. After some time, Meursault and his friends come to the beach again and see the same Arabs behind a high rock. Raymond gives Meursault a revolver, but there is no apparent reason for a quarrel. The world seemed to have closed and bound them. Friends leave Meursault alone. The scorching heat presses on him, he is seized by a drunken stupor. At the stream behind the rock, he again notices the Arab who wounded Raymond. Unable to endure the unbearable heat, Meursault takes a step forward, takes out a revolver and shoots at the Arab, "as if knocking on the door of misfortune with four short blows." Meursault is arrested and summoned for interrogation several times. He considers his case very simple, but the investigator and the lawyer have a different opinion. The investigator, who seemed to Meursault as an intelligent and nice person, cannot understand the motives for his crime. “He starts a conversation with him about God, but Meursault confesses his disbelief. His own crime causes him only annoyance. The investigation continues for eleven months. Meursault understands that the prison cell has become his home and his life has stopped. At first, he is mentally still at large, but after a meeting with Marie, a change occurs in his soul. Languishing from boredom, he recalls the past and understands that a person who has lived at least one day will be able to spend at least a hundred years in prison - he will have enough memories. Gradually Meursault loses the concept of time. The Meursault case is scheduled for hearing at the final session of the jury. A lot of people are crowded in the stuffy hall, but Meursault is not able to distinguish a single face. He gets the strange impression that he is superfluous, like an uninvited guest. After a long interrogation of witnesses: the director and caretaker of the almshouse, Raymond, Masson, Salamano and Marie, the prosecutor pronounces an angry conclusion: Meursault, never crying at the funeral of his own mother, not wanting to look at the deceased, the next day enters into a relationship with a woman and, being a friend of a professional pimp, he commits murder for an insignificant reason, settling scores with his victim. According to the prosecutor, Meursault has no soul, human feelings are inaccessible to him, no moral principles are known. Horrified by the insensibility of the criminal, the prosecutor demands the death penalty for him. In his defense speech, lawyer Meursault, on the contrary, calls him an honest worker and an exemplary son, who supported his mother as long as possible, and killed himself in a moment of blindness. Meursault expects the gravest punishment - inescapable remorse and remorse. After a break, the chairman of the court announces the verdict: “on behalf of the French people,” Meursault will be beheaded in public, in the square. Meursault begins to wonder if he can avoid the mechanical course of events. He cannot accept the inevitability of what is happening. Soon, however, he comes to terms with the thought of death, because life is not worth clinging to, and if you have to die, it does not matter when and how this happens. Before the execution, a priest comes to Meursault's cell. But in vain he tries to turn him to God. For Meursault, eternal life does not make any sense, he does not want to spend the rest of his time on God, so he pours out all the accumulated indignation on the priest. On the threshold of death, Meursault feels a breath of darkness rise up to him from the abyss of the future, that he was chosen by a single fate. He is ready to relive everything and opens his soul to the gentle indifference of the world.