Ali Field

Stanger Journal #1

The Stanger has a pattern of time developing in the first chapter. Time is first referenced in the first line of the book when Mersault says “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday” (3). His vague use of time makes it seem like he doesn’t care because he doesn’t really care to figure out when exactly his mom died. On the same page her referenced time again when he says he’ll “take the two o’clock bus” (3). His change to exact time makes me curios to why he wouldn’t try to figure out when his mom dies exactly since he seems to care about exact times. Later he finds out the walk to the church during the funeral takes ‘three-quarters of an hour” (14) which is also an exact time. I feel like he cares more about precise time when it directly relates to him and how his time is spend.

Another pattern in the first chapter of The Stranger is temperature. After the vigil was over, the sun began to go up and “start[ed] to warm [Mersault’s] feet” (12). He says little about discomfort of heat until later in the day. When the sun was high in the sky “the whole landscape shimmer[ed] with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive” (15). Mersault appears to dislike the sun because it is ‘oppressive’. He feels like it controls him and limits his choices because he feels uncomfortable to be immersed in heat. His close observations of heat help me to see how observant he is, even though he is quiet. He seems to obsess about heat more than cold and his mom is cold since she is dead and he doesn’t obsess about her either.

Colors are frequently emphasized in The Stranger. Colors such as red, white and black are noticed the most by Mersault. Red is particularly mentioned in relation to nature such as “the sky was streaked with red” (12) and “the blood-red earth spilling over Maman’s casket” (18) The repeater color of red is a dark color and reflects his dark and apathetic personality, but also shows his observances. He noticed that there were “four men wearing black in the room” (14)  the sticky black of tar, the dull black of the tar, the dull black of all the clothes and the shiny black of the hearse (17). He seems to scout out black and other dark colors. This definitely reflects the tone of darkness and carelessness of Mersault.

Light is a repeated pattern in The Stranger. In the middle of the night during the vigil, “darkness had gathered” (8) and the caretaker had turned on the light. Mersault “was blinded by the sudden flash of light” (8) and later asked the caretaker to “turn off one of the lights” (9). He could dislike the light because he dislikes sudden change, such as his mother dying. Maybe he is in shock from her death which is why he is so careless about the funeral. He also mentions “sunlight” (16) which could be both heat and light which are both things he appears to not be too fond of.

Sleep is repeated throughout the first chapter of The Stranger. He had “dozed off” (4) while on the bus to the vigil and was “getting sleepy” (7) when he arrived at the care home. Even during the vigil he had “dozed off for a while” (9). He gets tired with warm coffee and walking in the warm sun during the funeral walk to the church. Warmth and sleepiness seemed to be related to Mersault. He seems to not dislike heat all the time because, but he never mentions if he likes or dislikes sleep. He possibly likes heat when it helps him sleep. It is weird that he would fall asleep during the vigil of his mother instead of cry and be scared to sleep by her dead body.