73 pages • 2 hours read
Albert CamusThe Stranger
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1942A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Part 2, Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary
Meursault listens to the closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense. He notes that there is not “any very great difference” (77) between the two speeches. The lawyer advises Meursault to remain quiet, even though Meursault wants to speak up in his own defense. The prosecutor tries to convince the jury that Meursault’s crime was premeditated due to Meursault’s criminal mentality, as evidence by his lack of emotion and regret. Meursault is confused as to why the prosecutor seems so determined to paint him as an emotionless void who has no soul. The prosecutor compares Meursault unfavorably to the parent killer whose trial will come next, equating the two crimes as he also blames Meursault for the death of his mother. He claims that there is no place in society for a man who flaunts the basic rules and principles as Meursault does. The prosecutor calls for the death penalty to be imposed on Meursault.
Meursault stands and delivers a response, claiming he never intended to become a murderer. The judge thanks Meursault for his contribution. Meursault’s lawyer shrugs as Meursault launches into a confused, slurring defense of his actions that no one understands. The lawyer asks for the trial to be adjourned to the next day. When Meursault is brought back the following day, his lawyer’s closing remarks bore him. Meursault does not care as he already feels incredibly distant from the events of the trial.
The trial ends. The heat of the day fades into the coolness of the evening as the jury deliberates. Eventually, the decision is reached. Meursault is found guilty and sentenced to death. He stares into the faces around him and interprets their expression as “almost respectful sympathy” (84). When asked if he has anything more to say, Meursault says no. He is taken away.
Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary
Meursault refuses to see the prison chaplain. He has already refused to meet the man three times as he has nothing to say and does not feel like talking. Now, his only interest is “circumventing the machine” (84) of justice and finding a way to avoid death. He gazes up at the sky from his cell as he searches for a loophole in the legal system, dredging through his memories. He does not care that he apparently owes a debt to society that must be paid.
The impending execution makes Meursault think of a story his mother told about the father he never met. One day his father went to see the execution of a murderer. The sight made him sick, but he felt determined to bear witness to the passage of justice. Now, Meursault understands his father’s motivations and realizes that an execution is “the only thing that can genuinely interest a man” (85). Meursault lays in his cell and ponders the nature of capital punishment, devising new and supposedly fairer ways in which to execute people. He decides the guillotine that will kill him is wrong because the condemned man has no chance of survival. The reality of the guillotine clashes with his memories of history classes in school as there is nothing impressive or glamorous about the procedure.
Meursault waits for the inevitable dawn when he is finally led away to be executed, still hoping that some last-ditch appeal might save his life. At the same time, the thought of a successful appeal threatens to overwhelm his emotions. He tries to calm himself by thinking of Marie; because she has not written to him in a while, he has no idea if she is alive or dead.
The chaplain pays an unannounced visit to Meursault’s cell. Meursault tries to explain that he does not believe in God, but the chaplain does not accept this answer. They discuss Meursault’s fear and his despair. Eventually, the chaplain explains, all condemned men turn to God. They talk about life and religion. The chaplain struggles to come to terms with Meursault’s lack of belief, asking him how he can have no hope at all in a higher power, even as he faces death. Meursault is certain, and the chaplain pities him for being “steeped in human suffering” (91). The chaplain refuses to accept that Meursault does not at least wish for a life after death. Meursault admits that he has this wish but does not believe it could ever be possible. Eventually, Meursault becomes so annoyed by the chaplain that he shouts insults until the man leaves. The eruption of emotion overcomes Meursault, who shouts until he loses his breath and the jailers rush in to restrain him. The chaplain leaves with a tear in his eye. Exhausted, Meursault falls asleep.
Near dawn, Meursault awakes to the sound of a boat in the harbor. He thinks of his mother for the first time in months and begins to understand why she sought the comfort of Thomas Perez late in her life. She must have felt like someone “on the brink of freedom, ready to start life all over again” (94). Meursault also feels ready to start life again, and he feels as though his angry outburst at the chaplain has washed him clean. He opens his heart to the indifference of the universe and accepts his fate. His final hope is that, on the day of his execution, he is greeted by a large, howling crowd.
Part 2, Chapters 4-5 Analysis
After Meursault is sentenced to death by guillotine, the period between his sentencing and his death marks the final part of his journey toward self-awareness. This stage of the narrative is contained entirely within Meursault’s cell, which provides a physical representation of the spiritual and intellectual prison in which he is caught. The passive, detached Meursault who sat in the trial and felt bored seems to fade away. Now, Meursault comes to terms with the fact that he will almost certainly be killed. He looks at his seemingly inevitable death and speculates about the end of his life. For Meursault, there is no real difference between having his head cut off by a guillotine and dying of natural causes in many years’ time. The sense of apathy and meaningless remains, but Meursault begins to reflect and analyze himself in a way that he did not before. Now that he is trapped in the condemned cell, he is forced to think about himself in the way the audience has throughout the novel, becoming increasingly aware of his apathy.
The prospect of an execution also forces Meursault to think about hope. The idea of an appeal—a legal loophole or a daring escape—is initially tantalizing but quickly becomes a pain. Marie reminds Meursault to remain hopeful at all costs, but he sees the error of her thinking. Hope is an illusion, one that will stop him from confronting the reality of his situation. Meursault realizes that people who dwell on hope exist in a dream world that prevents them from living in the moment. The calmness and insight he has gained in his time in prison would not be possible if he spent every day thinking about how he could escape. Meursault gives up hope as an act of mercy to himself and as a way to demonstrate that he has accepted his fate.
The confrontation with the chaplain is another important moment in Meursault’s development as a character. The chaplain annoys Meursault so much that Meursault unleashes more emotion at the priest than he does throughout the entire book. The contents of his angry outburst are not detailed. Instead, Meursault describes the raw emotional nature of the words he shouts at the chaplain because the actual words are not as important as the act of expressing emotion.
The outburst helps Meursault to stop worrying about his death, which he begins to accept as inevitable. This peaceful acceptance can be read as a triumph over the society that seeks to punish Meursault. Nothing they do to him and none of their threats have any more power to affect him. By releasing himself and accepting the meaningless, uncaring nature of the universe, Meursault can frame his execution and his sins as part of the same chaos that exists everywhere. He is not to blame—not for murdering the Arab or shouting at the chaplain—so the punishment and his death are both irrelevant. His final wish is that the crowd that gathers to watch his execution is large and angry. He fully embraces his position as an enemy of society, as he no longer values society at all. Meursault would rather die as a person who understands the nature of the universe than live as someone who compromises his beliefs and capitulates to society’s expectations.
Related Titles
By Albert Camus
