The Importance of the Meal in the Third Chapet of The Stranger by Albert Camus

In chapter two of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion, the author tell his readers that in literature, a meal is never just a meal. Whenever people eat or drink together, its communion. Communion is the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings and in literature it isn’t usually religious. Meals together show how well characters are, or aren‘t, getting along. All those at the table (or wherever said communion is taking place) have something in common, the basic human need for sustenance In The Stranger, a meal takes place between Meursault and Raymond Sintes in the third chapter. Raymond casually invited Meursault to a dinner of blood sausage and wine at his place and Meursault accepts so he won’t have to worry about providing a meal from himself.

This is where Meursault’s troubles begint At this dinner is where he becomes entangled in Raymond‘s problems with his mistress and the Arab, the man Meursault later on murder. Meursault focuses a lot on his surroundings, comparing it to his own apartment. Raymond tells Meursault about his fight with his mistress‘ brother and his plan to get revenge on her, asking for his help in luring her back to Raymond’s. Both of them are under the influence of wine, Meursault often commenting on how much he is consuming. This scene in The Stranger connect to chapter two of How to Read Literature like a Professor because Raymond is sharing intimate thoughts and feelings with Meursault, enlisting his help. Though Meursault isn’t making much of an effort to connect with Raymond be is going along with the plan and agreeing to anything Raymond says.

This is a turning point in the story because Meursault become involved with something that eventually leads to his demise. Before he was just observing those around him and being detached but Raymond ropes him into a plan and a bond is formed between them. Unlike with Marie, Meursault doesn’t get anything physical in return for his relationship with Raymond. This meal ties them together because Meursault is a part of the plot against Raymond‘s mistress and unintentionally becomes an enemy of the man he later on murders. In chapter eleven of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, More Than It‘s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence, the author explains how violence can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, and/or transcendent.

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The two main categories of violence in literature are character caused and violence for which the characters are not responsible. A shooting, such as in The Stranger, is character caused Violence. While violence in literature is symbolic, it is impossible to generalize, In The Stranger Meursault shoots an Arab man on the beach, During the passage he blames the heat for pushing him towards the lone Arab, He doesn’t just shoot once bullet, but pauses after the first to shoot four more directly into the body of the Arab. This violence shows Meursault’s disregard for human life, Though the conflict with the Arab mostly belongs to Raymond, Meursault kills him. Subconsciously he must have needed that control over human life, or at least the proof that it didn’t matter. Still, as Thomas C, Foster said, there can be a range of reasons for violence. Meursault‘s mindset is that death is senseless and without reason or rationality, just like life.

Whether he was murdered or caught an illness, the Arab would have died. Meursault blames the sun because throughout the entire book he is more connected to the physical world than his innerself, The similarities between the character caused death, the murder of the Arab, and the nonecharacter caused death, Meursault’s mother is that Meursault is not affected emotionally by either, He admits to having no remorse for his actions and is indifferent to both deaths. It’s a reflection of nihilism and absurdist, the belief that there is no meaning in life. Even the violence is not violent. There is no gore or vivid descriptions of the body, the life just ceases to exist.

In chapter thirteen of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Is That a Symbol, Foster explains that everything is a symbol, but interpreting can be tricky, Symbols aren’t always objects but can be actions. Symbols are built on emotional reactions of the reader. There are many symbols in The Stranger such as the heat, the crucifix, and the courtroom Meursault is affected by heat at his mother‘s funeral, on the beach when he commits the murder, and in the courtroom during his trial. The sun is always intense to him and makes him dizzy. The heat blazes and it’s something that Meursault can’t control, just like death.

Neither have a regard for human life. Meursault almost leaves the beach before approaching the Arab but the sun pushes him forward and seemingly makes the choice for him. Another symbol, the crucifix, is related directly to Christianity which Meursault disregards in favor for an absurdist view. He is an atheist and doesn‘t believe in any God or afterlife. The crucifix represents everything Meursault rejectst The magistrate is appalled by the fact that Meursault does not weep at the sight f the crucifix like other criminals but it is because he does not believe in the search for a higher order like society expects. A third symbol is the courtroom.

The courtroom is full of people who do not understand Meursault and saw himself as removed from the courtroom, especially when his lawyer started referring to himself as I, speaking for Meursault. The room was basically an entire communityjudging Meursault for not fitting in with the rest of society. He didn‘t grieve for his mother of his soul which made him immoral in their eyes. During the trial they try to rationalize the murder, although Meursault knows there was no real reason for it This is similar to humans trying to rationalize the universe and their lives when it‘s not fully possible. It’s not possible to formulate a logical reason for the murder and because of that Meursault gets the death penalty The ultimate rejection from society.

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