The Stranger Bias

“The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire (Camus 38-39).” This does not sound like the remarks of a rational human being; someone capable of delivering a consistent narrative of a potential crime that implicates himself. When we encounter this in real life, it’s easy to denounce a testimony like this, but it’s just as important to note bias in storytelling. The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, is told in the first person point of view and lacks validity. This is done to cast doubt in the reader and involve them in the story more effectively. Camus further uses this to explain and reinforce his beliefs as an absurdist. As The Stranger is written from the

Rather than placing Meursault’s questionable authenticity of a storyteller into a central part of the story, at some points it’s serves the purpose of continuity. Camus doesn’t draw attention to Meursault’s flawed story-telling until it’s necessary for the plot, but it’s still prevalent throughout the story for consistency. This is mostly communicated through his internal thoughts that demonstrate his disconnect for reality. For example he thought: “Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed,” when he stayed at home for the day. This seems to display anti-social behavior and contributes negates his authenticity a bit as a storyteller. Not only here does he demonstrate anti-social behavior, but also, potentially, in the first line: “Maman died today,”(Camus 1). His abruptness and no demonstration of compassion aids to the idea of anti-social tendencies. Moreover, he shows lack of grief over his mother’s death when he met Marie over the following days. He describes the situation of his mother’s death non emphatically and doesn’t seem to realize the error in his lack of sadness (Camus 20). He starts to explain that “it wasn’t my fault” to Marie when she seemed startled by his lack of emotion (Camus 20). He says the same thing to his boss earlier in the novel, and shows his lack of awareness for emotions. This also builds upon the idea that Meursault isn’t mentally stable enough to give an accurate recount of the events of the story, especially considering it potentially implicates him in a crime. Basically, Camus tackles the first-person point of view in The Stranger to create an unreliable narrator and incorporate this aspect into the storytelling. While this is done for plot advancement during the courthouse scenes, it is a continuous feature of the novel and almost makes it seem as if all the events Meursault describes are his