The next meeting of Great Books KC will be September 26, 2025.
We will discuss The Stranger, by Albert Camus.
(See "Comments" for discussion questions)
Meeting Date & Time:
• Date: September 26, 2025 Meeting Date & Time:
• Time 7:00 pm
• Zoom link sent to mailing list on day of meeting
Hybrid Zoom & In-Person Meeting:
• In-person meeting, Little Conference Room, Plaza Branch Library• Zoom link sent to mailing list on day of meeting
• Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com
About the Book:
The Stranger is the first of Camus' novels to be published (1942). It follows Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who weeks after his mother's funeral kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault's first-person narrative before and after the killing.
1 comment:
1. Does Meursault have a moral code?
2. Why does he shoot “the Arab”? (page 59)
3. Meursault fires four more bullets into the body. Why? (page 59)
4. Why doesn’t Camus give a clear motive for the shooting (anger, fear, revenge, etc.)?
5. Why is the victim’s name never mentioned?
6. When asked whether he loved his mother, Meursault replies: “Yes, the same as anyone” (page 67). What does he mean?
(a) Like all sons do, I loved my mother.
(b) I loved my mother as much as any son loves his mother.
(c) I loved my mother as much as I love any other person.
(d) I loved my mother as much as anyone loved her.
(e) None of the above
7. Does Camus want us to think that Meursault is defective?
8. Why is the “robot woman” in the novel? (pages 43, 44, 86, 87, 89, 105, and 121)
9. Meursault says: “It was then I felt a stirring go through the room and for the first time I realized that I was guilty” (page 90). What does he mean?
10. Was justice served in Meursault’s case?
11. Meursault says: “I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world” (page 122). Why “gentle”?
12. Some people find meaning in work, personal growth, relationships, etc. What would Meursault say to these people?
Page numbers refer to the Vintage International edition (1989), translated by Matthew Ward.
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