Important quotes explained

Important quotes

1. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.”

This quote opens us up into the story, and into the mind of Meursault. His mother died, and he doesn’t seem to find any importance in the fact that she is gone. This opens the story to one of its major themes; the meaninglessness of life. Meursault has this view of death as something that is unimportant because it doesn’t affect you and life still goes on from that experience. Meursault views it as a normal unavoidable experience which we will all face one day; so there is no point in really being afraid of death because it’s just a matter of time.

 2.    “A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.”

      His responses to Marie, and to everyone as a whole, reveal his honesty and his ignorance. He is unaware that in saying these statements he would only emotionally hurt her. However, Meursault lacks many of those emotions. He cannot possibly know if he’d hurt anyone by just telling them what he truly has to say because he doesn’t know how to act or what to say; the only thing he can give, is his honesty. This quote helps to characterize Meursault.

3.   “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.”

      This quote helps to convey one of the author’s major themes in the stranger; the meaninglessness of human life. It shows that though a person dies, it does not change anything; not your schedule, not your personal relationships, not anything. Of course when losing someone very important in your life, it can be difficult. However, it doesn’t change the fact that, after that experience, life still goes on. Maybe psychologically it can be different without having that person here anymore, but physically; nothing really changes in a person’s life after that experience.

4. “She said, 'If you go slowly, you risk getting 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.“

            This quote helps to convey a philosophy that the author has set out with this novel; not being able to escape death. During the long, hot funeral procession Meursault is told by the nurse that if he “[goes too] slowly, [he would] risk getting sunstroke. But if [he goes] too fast, [he would] work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.” Upon hearing this, Meursault realizes that she was right, “There was no way out.” Symbolically, the sun’s harsh effects represent death; trying to avoid or escape it is impossible.