Pulsing With Heat
Albert Camus wrote The Stranger, or L’Étranger, embodying the idea of existentialism. He includes a range of symbols, particularly sun, sunlight, and heat, all directly related in a meaningful way, that correspond to the larger theme of the book, in this case a universal idea exploring existentialism. The sun opposes its usual warmth and beauty in Camus’ novel. Although the symbol of the sun reoccurs in many instances throughout the book, there are three times when the images are extremely significant to the plot. Camus creates a character, Meursault, a very honest yet very indifferent man. Essentially, depending on its intensity, the sun, standing as oppressive weather, evokes Meursault’s emotions and reactions. In Camus’
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He shows no grief or regret. The intensity of the emotions that the heat and sun evokes on him is shown as he pours with sweat: “Sweat was running down my face…I tried to fan myself with my handkerchief” (30). The sun is the only thing that can get a reaction out of Meursault; in this case, he gets out his handkerchief. His emotions evoked by the physical world, by the heat, light, and sun, bar him from experiencing the real feelings such as grief for his mother.
The symbol of the sun reoccurs in the beach scene. Mersault is again bothered by the glaring sun and intense heat when he goes to Masson’s beach house with his girlfriend, Marie and Raymond. Masson is a friend of Raymond who he recently became “pals” with. Throughout the scene, Meursault seems to be delirious because of the heat. The sun seems to be personified, as it becomes the enemy of Meursault. Throughout this scene, the seems to be more persistent and hot, evoking pain: “I felt a hot blast strike my forehead, I gritted my teeth, I clenched my fists in my trouser pockets and keyed up every nerve to fend off the sun and the dark befuddlement it was pouring into me” (102). However, the sun also invokes comfort and brings