The Stranger

Meursault is arrested and questioned by the police. He speaks to increasingly important people until he admits to a magistrate that he does not yet have a lawyer. The magistrate reveals that a lawyer will be appointed for Meursault, even if Meursault believes that the case is “very simple” (50). Despite the seriousness of the crime, Meursault is unconcerned. He views the successive interviews as a game and must remind himself that he killed a man.

The next day Meursault meets his lawyer. The lawyer believes that Meursault has “every prospect” (51) of escaping punishment, particularly given his mother’s recent death. However, the police investigated the matter and found that Meursault showed “great callousness” (51) at his mother’s funeral. The lawyer asks Meursault whether he was struck by the emotion of his mother’s death, but Meursault admits that he has, in recent years, struggled to express his emotions. He believes that his physical state dictates his emotions, though he cannot admit to any great feelings of grief.

The lawyer leaves, and Meursault regrets that he did not do enough to convince the man that he is “just like everybody else” (52). Meursault is taken to the magistrate’s office again.