The Stranger theme card

Quotes:
"...two little boys in sailor suits, with trousers below the knees, looking a little cramped in their stiff clothes..." (p. 21)
"And I nodded, as if to say 'Yes'" (p. 23)
" The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes." (p. 59)
"'Why did you pause between the first and second shot?'" (p. 67)
"...I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world." (p. 122)
Vehicles: Imagery, symbolism, irony, diction
Conflicts: Religion vs. Logic, Individual vs. Society, Physical vs. Emotional
Subjects: Individualism, Rebellion, Existentialism/Absurd
Themes:
1. A unwillingness to conform to society's standards is to form one's own ideals, but with the risk of persecution.
2. Rebellion, though looked upon as extreme in nature, stems from enlightenment and a drive to transcend archaic ideologies.
Plot: Mersault goes through his life lacking emotion. By absurd chance, he finds himslef questioned for past actions and his perseption on events deemed sacrosanct by society. Enlightened, he accepts this absurdity and his small role in the physical world which rules all.
Title: The Stranger highlights Mersault's role as a character "on the outside looking in". Throughout the storyline, he cannot relate to the emotional stimuli surrounding in and focuses solely on the physical, tangible world, which in his world, makes logical sense. As the Stranger, he is easily targeted for differences in ideology.
Characters: Maman, Mersault, Thomas Perez, Marie Cardona, Salamano, Raymond, Celeste, The Arab, Masson, The Magistrate, the Chaplain