The short novel The Stranger by Albert Camus embodies contradiction. While the understanding the novel provokes remains undeniable, the stylistic value may prove even more emblematic of the underlying theme.
The facts are understood by everyone. Or just some people maybe, I don’t know. The Stranger proposes a message: “Live in the now. Death comes tomorrow.” But that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was just some people.
The action is absolute. And so are the feelings. The page turns. And the reader grasps the plot, easily. But when discussed, the individuality of interpretation comes into play.
He was happy. She was used to it. Men always understand each other.
It was natural, naturally.
Here Camus distorts traditional notions. It is the facts that prove ambiguous (his mother’s age, the reason for killing, the location of Salamano’s dog) while the feelings are absolute. This shift of societal norms, written in a basic way, proclaims complexity and substantiates a need for personal experience and understanding.
