Modern Languages Study Guides: L'étranger, Slides of Literature

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Titles in the series

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Modern Languages Study Guides: Au revoir les enfants Film Study Guide for AS/A-level French

Modern Languages Study Guides: Das Leben der Anderen Film Study Guide for AS/A-level German

Modern Languages Study Guides: Good Bye, Lenin! Film Study Guide for AS/A-level German

Modern Languages Study Guides: Volver Film Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: El laberinto del fauno Film Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: Entre les murs Film Study Guide for AS/A-level French

Modern Languages Study Guides: Como agua para chocolate Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: L’étranger Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level French

Modern Languages Study Guides: Der Vorleser Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level German

Modern Languages Study Guides: Ocho apellidos vascos Film Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: La casa de Bernarda Alba Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: Un sac de billes Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level French

Modern Languages Study Guides: No et moi Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level French

Modern Languages Study Guides: Crónica de una muerte anunciada Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level Spanish

Modern Languages Study Guides: Der Besuch der alten Dame Literature Study Guide for AS/A-level German

Getting the most from this guide

This guide is designed to help you to develop your understanding and critical appreciation of the concepts and issues raised in L’étranger as well as your language skills, fully preparing you for your Paper 2 exam. It will help you when you are studying the novel for the first time and also during your revision.

A mix of French and English is used throughout the guide to ensure you learn key vocabulary and structures you’ll need for your essay, while also allowing you to develop a deep understanding of the work.

The following features have been used throughout this guide to help build your language skills and focus your understanding of the film:

TASK

Short tasks are included throughout the book to test your knowledge of the novel. These require short written answers.

Activity

A mix of activities are found throughout the book to test your knowledge of the work and develop your vocabulary and grammar. Longer writing tasks will help prepare you for your exam.

Key quotation Key quotations are highlighted as they may be useful supporting evidence in your essay. Aujourd’hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas. (Meursault)

Key vocabulary For every paragraph in French, key vocabulary is highlighted and translated. Make sure you know these words so you can write an essay with accurate language and a wide range of vocabulary, which is essential to receive the top mark for AO3.

These top tips will advise you on what to do, as well as what not to do, to maximise your chances of success in the examination.

GRADE BOOSTER

These boxes offer an opportunity to consider some more challenging questions. They are designed to encourage deeper thinking and analysis to take you beyond what happens in the novel to explore why the author has used particular techniques, and the effects they have on you. These analytical and critical skills are essential for success in AO4 in the exam.

Build critical skills

Answers

Answers to every activity, task, and critical skills question can be found online at www. hoddereducation.co.uk/mfl-study-guide- answers

Le personnage principal : Meursault

C’est un personnage bien mystérieux et pas du tout conventionnel que celui de Meursault. Tout d’abord, on apprend son nom de famille par le fait qu’il est le fils de Madame Meursault, puis d’autres personnages s’adressent à lui en disant « M. Meursault ». Mais on n’apprend jamais son prénom. Ceci permettant d’un côté de raconter une histoire avec un point de vue spécifique et dépeindre un caractère particulier, et d’un autre côté de mettre l’accent sur la signification du seul nom utilisé. Ce nom de famille, Meursault, est chargé de signification symbolique, d’autant plus qu’il est utilisé seul : la mer, la mort et le soleil sont réunies en lui. Au-delà du nom, le peu d’information que l’on apprend sur Meursault se résume à ceci : il n’a plus de famille, puisque sa mère vient de mourir, et personne d’autre n’est mentionné ; il vivait avec sa mère jusqu’à ce qu’il la mette dans un asile parce qu’il n’avait pas les moyens de payer une garde pour elle ; il travaille pour une entreprise en rapport avec les transports par bateau ; il a interrompu ses études ; physiquement parlant, il est jeune, il a le corps brun (et il n’aime pas les gens à la peau blanche). C’est donc peu d’information que nous avons sur le personnage principal, ce qui limite les points avec lesquels le lecteur peut s’identifier, et l’oblige à se concentrer sur ce qu’il a à dire plutôt que ce qu’il est. Les principaux traits de caractère de Meursault, que nous allons voir en détails, sont qu’il ne ressent que peu d’émotions, et il intériorise ses perceptions sans jamais les mettre en question ou émettre un jugement à leur sujet ; inconsciemment puis consciemment, il ne se conforme pas aux attentes que la société a de lui, il est révolté, et, plutôt que de mentir pour sauver sa tête, il préfère maintenir la vérité et mourir à cause d’elle ; il parait étrange au lecteur et à certain de ses interlocuteurs dans le roman, et, si sa culpabilité d’un crime est déclarée par la justice, elle ne va pas de soi pour lui.

What’s in a name?

Meursault. Mort — Mer — Soleil. Meur — pour mort et mer, sault — pour sol, le soleil. Meursault carries in his name all the elements that make and break him. We have seen in the chapter on ‘Themes’ that Meursault has a close bond with the sea, and even through his job he is linked with the sea (his job involves recording the loading and unloading of ships). Death is in him, as the only thing he can be sure of: sooner or later, he will die, and by a chance of fate, a death

le nom de famille family name

mettre l’accent to emphasise

se résumer à to boil down to

mettre en question to call into question

aller de soi to go without saying

le prénom first name

le/la garde carer

5 Characters

5 Characters

answers. In the first part of the book, nothing that Meursault hears, says or does seems to him incongruous, until the killing of the Arab man. We will see the consequences of this form of innocence on Meursault when he is faced with interrogation and judgement.

Innocence and the truth

Meursault’s innocence in his relationship with the world, together with his determination not to lie about what he feels, turns him (in the context of his trial) into a veritable martyr for the truth.

First, faced with the possible consequences of being found guilty of a murder, most criminals would try to deny or diminish their responsibility in their action. Meursault does not do that, or even, it seems, think about doing that. When given the opportunity to defend himself in reaction to the witnesses’ statements, instead of trying to justify or minimise some aspects which, even to him, must look bad for his case, he only confirms the strictest truth, without any other comment. He does this on many other occasions throughout the trial. All these examples point to the fact that, even though it will have terrible consequences for him, Meursault refuses to do what society expects him to. He lives by the truth and nothing else, and nobody will make him say anything other than the truth purely to behave in a way society approves. When asked whether he feels any regret for his act, he says that it would be more accurate to say that he feels ennui: mild annoyance, wishing it had not happened. Meursault does not realise that he should, at the very least, seem compliant and that he could, if he wanted to, try to get the lightest sentence possible by faking all sorts of things: his lack of responsibility in the murder, being coerced by Raymond, or even tricked by him, the fact that the heat and sun had seriously impaired his judgement.

p Meursault en prison (photogramme du film de 1967)

TASK

Donnez cinq exemples pouvant démontrer la naïveté de Meursault.

L’ÉTRANGER

Moreover, it is obvious that Meursault will absolutely not say that his lack of sensitivity is due to grief suppressing any normal reaction in him. His mother’s death and his behaviour at the funeral have, for him, nothing to do with the crime. So either Meursault does not even know that this game has to be played or he refuses to play it. Either way, he is going to die because he refuses to lie and pretend, which can be equated to dying as a martyr for the truth. Note the difference between the first and the second parts of the book when considering Meursault’s brutal honesty and strict adherence to the truth. When he says that he does not love Marie, the worst that happens is that she is taken aback, but she still wishes to marry him. In the second part, this honesty and insistence on telling the truth makes him a hardened, unfeeling, criminal.

Rebellion The refusal to take part in the game of pretence imposed by society makes a definite rebel of Meursault, a person who will not conform to society’s conventions. Apart from his crime (which is eventually almost wholly ignored to focus on his apparent lack of emotions, construed as monstrosity), this non- conformity, which Meursault pushes to its limits, has to be crushed, for fear it might catch on and bring the established order down. With this in mind, it is easier to understand the harshness of the sentence demanded by the prosecutor and dutifully delivered by the jury. Both before and after the trial, religion is presented to Meursault as the source of relief he needs to alleviate the guilt of his mind, his thoughts, of his being. But both times, Meursault refuses the easy way out and stands firm in his non-belief in a God. For him there is an earthly way to find peace, even on the eve of death and, as time is pressing, he prefers to concentrate on finding this earthly peace than spending time discussing a religion. In addition, to accept finding comfort in the forgiveness of a God and in life after death is pointless to him, as this is all in a possible future. He, on the other hand, needs to make his peace with the world now. The last line of the book suggests that, as a rebel, Meursault has made his peace with the world: he is a rebel and he is completely at peace with that. This is why he calls the crowds to welcome him with shouts of hatred: he marks the irreconcilable difference between him and other people — the crowds

Strange, or a stranger? All the above points, and many more besides, make Meursault appear as a strange person, to say the least. But it is this strangeness that makes him feel like a stranger, or an outsider, at his trial for murder. He has nothing in common with the society that would like him to lie to please them and would like to force him into some specific patterns of behaviour, whereas he senses that these kinds of behaviour are not genuine.

Key quotation

J’ai réfléchi et j’ai dit que, plutôt que du regret véritable, j’éprouvais un certain ennui. (Meursault au juge d’instruction)

Key quotation

[…]il me restait à souhaiter qu’il y ait beaucoup de spectateurs le jour de mon exécution et qu’ils m’accueillent avec des cris de haine. (Meursault)

Key quotation

En quelque sorte, on avait l’air de traiter cette affaire en dehors de moi.

Moi je crois que j’étais déjà très loin de cette salle d’audience. (Meursault)

L’ÉTRANGER

She is also taken aback, on their first day together, when she realises that Meursault has just buried his mother: she clearly expects a different kind of behaviour. However, either she has the sense not to make it her problem or her attraction to him is stronger than her slight repulsion, and they go ahead with spending the evening and night together. When Meursault finds himself in prison following the murder of the Arab man, Marie visits him once and writes to him once. We know why she cannot visit him more than once (she is not a family member), but we never find out why she stops writing, although Meursault does wonder, just in passing: is she with a new Meursault? Is she ill or dead? During her visit, she is artificially positive and Meursault sees that. Apart from the fact that he finds her beautiful, Meursault feels indisposed by the light and the high level of noise in the room, so the visit feels, if not downright unpleasant, at least fraught. During the trial, Marie is aware that she is having a negative effect on Meursault’s case, so she tries to explain why her answers to the questions she is asked sound so bad, although she knows that Meursault is not a bad character. She is, however, not allowed to finish her explanation and is very upset, we presume, at the thought of having damaged his case. That is nearly the last time Marie appears in Meursault’s consciousness, apart from a few times when he reflects on his life almost certainly coming to an end.

Raymond Sintès

Raymond, le voisin de palier devenu ami dans des circonstances légèrement douteuses mais en même temps touchantes, permet principalement d’accentuer la façon terre-à-terre et dénuée de questionnement dont Meursault accueille les informations qui lui arrivent. Sa relation avec Raymond tourne souvent autour du plaisir parfaitement innocent de la relation sociale, en particulier dans la première partie du livre où, par exemple, Meursault « [s’applique] à contenter Raymond parce qu’il n’avait pas de raison de ne pas le contenter », ou bien, après avoir passé un bon après-midi avec Raymond, il commente : « Je le trouvais très gentil avec moi et j’ai pensé que c’était un bon moment. » Raymond n’est pourtant pas un personnage exemplaire : il ne se cache pas (peut-être devant l’absence de condamnation de Meursault ?) d’être bagarreur et de battre une femme. Lors du procès, Raymond veut sincèrement que son témoignage aide Meursault, qui est son ami, mais son manque d’éloquence et sa réputation sont retournés contre Meursault.

Raymond is Meursault’s neighbour and is first introduced to the reader when the latter meets him by chance on his way home after work. From the information we are given from then on (information filtered by Meursault’s consciousness), it is still difficult to know for sure what Raymond is truly like: is he a magasinier

voisin de palier someone who lives on the same floor (landing)

exemplaire model, perfect bagarreur (bagarreuse) aggressive, ready for a fight

denué(e) devoid

5 Characters

(stock-controller), or is he a pimp as he is reputed to be, or is he both? Why does he want Meursault to write the letter to his mistress for him? Is it because he genuinely thinks that Meursault’s knowledge and use of language will make a more eloquent letter, or does he want to make sure he does not leave any trace of his involvement with the woman, if the authorities were to investigate him? Although the letter is used against Meursault as proof of his bad character, it is clear that Raymond is keen to help him when he is cross-examined during the trial. However, the negative reputation of Raymond makes his testimony completely useless and the prosecutor uses it to make things worse for Meursault.

It is clear that Raymond sometimes behaves like a thug, but because (when he is a free man at least) Meursault makes no judgement on anything, much less moral ones, he continues to interact with Raymond despite his reputation and knowing that he beats a woman and fights with men. This lack of judgement and Meursault’s helpfulness to Raymond are the reasons why they end up being friends. To Meursault, friendship means nothing, but he is keen to please. By contrast, Raymond feels Meursault understands him so he offers him his friendship and clearly puts a lot of value on their friendship. Raymond’s behaviour denotes a certain code of honour, which we find again in the fights he is involved in. He only fights one-to-one, even though, on the beach for example, Meursault is around to help him if needed. Raymond also appears to fight to defend his honour: ‘Il m’a dit que je n’étais pas un homme. Alors je suis descendu[…].’

Although Meursault never thinks of Raymond in this way, it is because of Raymond that Meursault arrives at the event that will seal his fate: to stop Raymond from doing something irreparable, Meursault takes his revolver from him, but because of the circumstances and despite himself, he ends up committing the irreparable act against the Arab man, which is construed during the trial as a premeditated, complicit act. Raymond is not a clear-cut, black-and- white character, which helps Camus’s aim of showing the absurdity of life.

5 Characters

Les personnages

secondaires

Marie

liberté sensualité peu clair (^) l’honneursens de

Raymond

les amis de Meursault

Meursault

principal

vérité

innocence

sagesse

conscience

étrangeté

rébellion

Personnages

L’ÉTRANGER

Vocabulaire l’affection ( f ) affection l’attirance ( f ) attraction avoir la conscience tranquille to have a clear conscience convenable suitable, appropriate, proper les convenances ( f ) conventions, proprieties crédule gullible, credulous débauché ( e ) debauched le défaut de caractère character defect déterminé ( e ) determined dissolu ( e ) dissolute entêté ( e ) stubborn l’entêtement ( m ) stubbornness la force morale moral strength incorruptible incorruptible l’insistance ( f ) insistence intègre honest l’intégrité ( f ) integrity la liaison affair, liaison malhonnête dishonest médiocre mediocre la modestie modesty naïf ( naïve ) naive la passion passion persistant ( e ) persistant peu scrupuleux (- euse ) unscrupulous la pureté purity la qualité quality la réserve reserve résolu ( e ) decisive la retenue restraint le scrupule scruple scrupuleux (- euse ) scrupulous simple homely, direct