Flip the Script: A Stranger's Look into French Algeria
By Raina Jose
The Stranger, by Albert Camus, is set in French Algeria during French colonial occupation of the country. In the novel, a peculiar court case that the protagonist is put through raises questions about why Camus chose to portray the protagonist and the event in the way that he did. This interpretation presents a deeper look at the messages Camus gives off in his notions through the trial, and examines his purpose behind these notions, as well as the criticism of an individual.
To understand the occurrences in the novel, it is helpful to know how everything worked in the setting of 1940 French Algeria. In July of 1830, the French invaded and conquered the nation of Algeria, the result of heightened conflicts between the two countries. The French began occupying and later colonizing Algeria from 1830 to 1962. Natives of Algeria, such as Arabs and Berbers, were discriminated against during French colonial occupation. It was almost a political apartheid. (Kelly 43) The French thought of themselves as superior to the natives, and treated them as such. Because the natives had darker-shaded skin and were considered the minority (even though there were millions of them as opposed to France’s few settlers), the French claimed dominance in Algeria. Both groups had “two separate subcultures with very little interaction or intermarriage”, maintained by the European settlers (Miller). In any interaction between a European and native, the European was given the upper hand. To get citizenship as a French citizen of Algeria, the natives had to renounce their Muslim faith and culture. Those that choose to keep their religion continued to be discriminated against. (Kelly 43) In matters of the law, there was plenty of injustice done to the natives by the French. Regardless of whether they were at fault or not, natives were almost always convicted or denied justice with crimes in the court of law. Citizen or not, the natives had to pay higher taxes than the settlers. A social distance was maintained between Europeans and natives through segregation, practiced by ridiculing the natives and their culture. (Sivan 163-164) Natives were mocked and laughed at for their “inferiority” and were even refused a proper education. For ages, they built literacy and religious knowledge from mosques and schools, but the French took away money supporting the education of the natives and spent it on the European’s education instead. (Miller)
Albert Camus was born into a Pied Noir, Algerians with European ancestry, family in 1913, during French colonial Algeria. Throughout his life, Camus joined many political parties, including the French Communist Party and, later, the Algerian People’s Party. He shifted between many communist groups, some of the French and others of native Algerians. Eventually developing a growing belief in individual rights over government power, Camus turned to anarchism. When he pursued writing as a passion, Camus worked as a journalist for some time for news journals such as Alger-Rèpublicain and the Parisian daily, Combat. In some articles he wrote, Camus stated that he had no problem with the presence of France in Algeria, but spoke out about the inequality towards natives. He took a “stand on humanitarian rather than ideological grounds” and held to “the belief that all political action must have a solid moral basis” (Cruickshank). By then, Camus had published The Stranger.
In the novel, the protagonist, a Frenchman named Meursault is put on trial for shooting and killing a native Arab. This Arab was the brother of a girl that Raymond, Meursault’s friend, had dated and afterwards abused for suspicions of cheating. During a trip, the Arab and his accomplice came to follow Meursault and Raymond, armed with knives. After a silent, but heated exchange between the Arabs and the two friends, with the involvement of the Sun, Meursault ended up shooting the Arab. However, when he went on trial for this offense, Meursault found himself being accused of being emotionless and detached from society, rather than of the murder he committed.
While it may seem odd that someone’s moral compass would be weighted more than their crime, even more confusion arrives when we factor in the setting of the novel, 1940s French Algeria. This is the same Algeria that paid no mind to the troubles of natives and ruled in favor of the French settlers. However, in The Stranger, Frenchman Meursault was put in the hot seat. Though he had killed an Arab, someone held in low standard by the current society, he was still criminalized. This appears to come as a surprise to the characters in the book also. When vising Meursault in jail, Marie, his fiancé, reassures Meursault that he will be out in no time and they can return to bathing together. (Camus 47) Additionally, throughout Meursault’s trial, his attorney continues to reassure Meursault that the verdict would go in his favor and that “‘the court will dispatch [Meursault’s] case as quickly as possible, as it isn’t the most important one on the Cause List’” (Camus 52). The low importance that even this man of law gives to the case reflects the state that the European – Native relationship. As for Marie, while it is possible that she was only trying to raise hope for Meursault, she was aware, like most French Algerians, of how cases involving native Arabs proceed. Another factor also leaves room for question – Raymond’s case. His abuse of his ex-girlfriend, an Arab, was dismissed and let off with a warning, even though he had a standing reputation as a pimp and had committed – what could be considered – a crime. It may be that because she was a native woman, the girlfriend’s case was not taken seriously by authorities. If so, why does such an inconsistency exist between Raymond and Meursault?
An approach that Camus might have took on the matter is related to society’s weight on character rather than actions. While Raymond had indeed committed some sort of crime by abusing the Arab girl, he was not convicted because in society’s eyes, he was justified. The girl had been disloyal to him and betrayed their relationship and, therefore, deserved to be hit. Moreover, hitting women may have been a common practice in those times in Algeria, so Raymond beating his girlfriend was simply brushed off. In the case of Meursault, lack of grief about his mother’s death and companionships with pimps like Raymond gave his judging society reason to dislike what Meursault is. While one would assume that killing the Arab is what lands Meursault in prison and on the way to a decapitation, the killing seems to matter in that it brought Meursault to a lawful chair of judgement to be sliced apart by society. This judgement was not as based on the illegal act that he committed, but rather the way he lived his life so detached and emotionless. In the novel, Meursault comes to acknowledge this fact when he remarks that “[his] Mother’s death had no connection with the charge against [Meursault]” and his lawyer replies that “this remark showed [Meursault] never had any dealings with the law”, confirming society’s significance of character (Camus 41). In a way, Meursault is persecuted because he did not fit society’s image of an ideal man – meaningful and passionate.
While this social observation may have been Camus’s intentions, there is a possibility that he may have been commenting on an entirely different issue. Colonization and segregation were not secluded to Algeria at the time of the novel’s publication; it was occurring all across the world. Camus had made public his will for native Algerians to be free from the prejudices of the French. Since he had such a wish for equal treatment in his home country, it could be that he purposely treated Frenchman Meursault as a native would be at his trial in the role of a sociopolitical critique of colonization. While nations that colonize other nations do not always unfairly treat their natives, most global colonizing has involved social and political discrimination. Reflecting the views of a common anarchist, Camus believed that each individual in a society deserved equal opportunities in life. As this was not happening in many other colonized nations, Camus may have took it upon himself to prove a point to the rest of the world – by incriminating those that incriminate.
By visiting a situation – Meursault’s trial – in an unusual way, Camus sparks contemplation in the minds of readers about his almost satirical, hidden critiques of the state of the world. His presentation of what values society approves of most and the inhumane acts of humankind gives readers a new view on how people similar to Meursault feel in a society dominated by a personality that they just do not possess. However, like Meursault, they can be held in the hopes to power forward through life, shutting off those that scorn them. And anyways, what difference does it make to live a conforming or unconventional life? In the words of Meursault, “it all [comes] to the same thing in the end” (Camus 75).
Works Cited
Andrews, William G. French Politics and Algeria; the Process of Policy Formation, 1954-1962. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962. Print.
Camus, Albert. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. The Stranger. New York: A.A. Knopf and Vintage – Random House, 1942. Web.
Cruickshank, John. "Camus's Literary Career." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 July 2014. Web. 16 May 2015.
Kelly, Debra. Autobiography And Independence: Selfhood and Creativity in North African Postcolonial Writing in French, Liverpool University Press, 2005, p. 43.
Miller, Olivia. "Algerian Americans." Countries and Their Cultures. Advameg, Inc., 2015. Web. 14 May 2015.
Sivan, Emmanuel. “Colonialism and Popular Culture.” Interpretations of Islam. Princeton, N.J.: The Darwin Press Inc., 1985. Print.
To understand the occurrences in the novel, it is helpful to know how everything worked in the setting of 1940 French Algeria. In July of 1830, the French invaded and conquered the nation of Algeria, the result of heightened conflicts between the two countries. The French began occupying and later colonizing Algeria from 1830 to 1962. Natives of Algeria, such as Arabs and Berbers, were discriminated against during French colonial occupation. It was almost a political apartheid. (Kelly 43) The French thought of themselves as superior to the natives, and treated them as such. Because the natives had darker-shaded skin and were considered the minority (even though there were millions of them as opposed to France’s few settlers), the French claimed dominance in Algeria. Both groups had “two separate subcultures with very little interaction or intermarriage”, maintained by the European settlers (Miller). In any interaction between a European and native, the European was given the upper hand. To get citizenship as a French citizen of Algeria, the natives had to renounce their Muslim faith and culture. Those that choose to keep their religion continued to be discriminated against. (Kelly 43) In matters of the law, there was plenty of injustice done to the natives by the French. Regardless of whether they were at fault or not, natives were almost always convicted or denied justice with crimes in the court of law. Citizen or not, the natives had to pay higher taxes than the settlers. A social distance was maintained between Europeans and natives through segregation, practiced by ridiculing the natives and their culture. (Sivan 163-164) Natives were mocked and laughed at for their “inferiority” and were even refused a proper education. For ages, they built literacy and religious knowledge from mosques and schools, but the French took away money supporting the education of the natives and spent it on the European’s education instead. (Miller)
Albert Camus was born into a Pied Noir, Algerians with European ancestry, family in 1913, during French colonial Algeria. Throughout his life, Camus joined many political parties, including the French Communist Party and, later, the Algerian People’s Party. He shifted between many communist groups, some of the French and others of native Algerians. Eventually developing a growing belief in individual rights over government power, Camus turned to anarchism. When he pursued writing as a passion, Camus worked as a journalist for some time for news journals such as Alger-Rèpublicain and the Parisian daily, Combat. In some articles he wrote, Camus stated that he had no problem with the presence of France in Algeria, but spoke out about the inequality towards natives. He took a “stand on humanitarian rather than ideological grounds” and held to “the belief that all political action must have a solid moral basis” (Cruickshank). By then, Camus had published The Stranger.
In the novel, the protagonist, a Frenchman named Meursault is put on trial for shooting and killing a native Arab. This Arab was the brother of a girl that Raymond, Meursault’s friend, had dated and afterwards abused for suspicions of cheating. During a trip, the Arab and his accomplice came to follow Meursault and Raymond, armed with knives. After a silent, but heated exchange between the Arabs and the two friends, with the involvement of the Sun, Meursault ended up shooting the Arab. However, when he went on trial for this offense, Meursault found himself being accused of being emotionless and detached from society, rather than of the murder he committed.
While it may seem odd that someone’s moral compass would be weighted more than their crime, even more confusion arrives when we factor in the setting of the novel, 1940s French Algeria. This is the same Algeria that paid no mind to the troubles of natives and ruled in favor of the French settlers. However, in The Stranger, Frenchman Meursault was put in the hot seat. Though he had killed an Arab, someone held in low standard by the current society, he was still criminalized. This appears to come as a surprise to the characters in the book also. When vising Meursault in jail, Marie, his fiancé, reassures Meursault that he will be out in no time and they can return to bathing together. (Camus 47) Additionally, throughout Meursault’s trial, his attorney continues to reassure Meursault that the verdict would go in his favor and that “‘the court will dispatch [Meursault’s] case as quickly as possible, as it isn’t the most important one on the Cause List’” (Camus 52). The low importance that even this man of law gives to the case reflects the state that the European – Native relationship. As for Marie, while it is possible that she was only trying to raise hope for Meursault, she was aware, like most French Algerians, of how cases involving native Arabs proceed. Another factor also leaves room for question – Raymond’s case. His abuse of his ex-girlfriend, an Arab, was dismissed and let off with a warning, even though he had a standing reputation as a pimp and had committed – what could be considered – a crime. It may be that because she was a native woman, the girlfriend’s case was not taken seriously by authorities. If so, why does such an inconsistency exist between Raymond and Meursault?
An approach that Camus might have took on the matter is related to society’s weight on character rather than actions. While Raymond had indeed committed some sort of crime by abusing the Arab girl, he was not convicted because in society’s eyes, he was justified. The girl had been disloyal to him and betrayed their relationship and, therefore, deserved to be hit. Moreover, hitting women may have been a common practice in those times in Algeria, so Raymond beating his girlfriend was simply brushed off. In the case of Meursault, lack of grief about his mother’s death and companionships with pimps like Raymond gave his judging society reason to dislike what Meursault is. While one would assume that killing the Arab is what lands Meursault in prison and on the way to a decapitation, the killing seems to matter in that it brought Meursault to a lawful chair of judgement to be sliced apart by society. This judgement was not as based on the illegal act that he committed, but rather the way he lived his life so detached and emotionless. In the novel, Meursault comes to acknowledge this fact when he remarks that “[his] Mother’s death had no connection with the charge against [Meursault]” and his lawyer replies that “this remark showed [Meursault] never had any dealings with the law”, confirming society’s significance of character (Camus 41). In a way, Meursault is persecuted because he did not fit society’s image of an ideal man – meaningful and passionate.
While this social observation may have been Camus’s intentions, there is a possibility that he may have been commenting on an entirely different issue. Colonization and segregation were not secluded to Algeria at the time of the novel’s publication; it was occurring all across the world. Camus had made public his will for native Algerians to be free from the prejudices of the French. Since he had such a wish for equal treatment in his home country, it could be that he purposely treated Frenchman Meursault as a native would be at his trial in the role of a sociopolitical critique of colonization. While nations that colonize other nations do not always unfairly treat their natives, most global colonizing has involved social and political discrimination. Reflecting the views of a common anarchist, Camus believed that each individual in a society deserved equal opportunities in life. As this was not happening in many other colonized nations, Camus may have took it upon himself to prove a point to the rest of the world – by incriminating those that incriminate.
By visiting a situation – Meursault’s trial – in an unusual way, Camus sparks contemplation in the minds of readers about his almost satirical, hidden critiques of the state of the world. His presentation of what values society approves of most and the inhumane acts of humankind gives readers a new view on how people similar to Meursault feel in a society dominated by a personality that they just do not possess. However, like Meursault, they can be held in the hopes to power forward through life, shutting off those that scorn them. And anyways, what difference does it make to live a conforming or unconventional life? In the words of Meursault, “it all [comes] to the same thing in the end” (Camus 75).
Works Cited
Andrews, William G. French Politics and Algeria; the Process of Policy Formation, 1954-1962. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962. Print.
Camus, Albert. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. The Stranger. New York: A.A. Knopf and Vintage – Random House, 1942. Web.
Cruickshank, John. "Camus's Literary Career." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 July 2014. Web. 16 May 2015.
Kelly, Debra. Autobiography And Independence: Selfhood and Creativity in North African Postcolonial Writing in French, Liverpool University Press, 2005, p. 43.
Miller, Olivia. "Algerian Americans." Countries and Their Cultures. Advameg, Inc., 2015. Web. 14 May 2015.
Sivan, Emmanuel. “Colonialism and Popular Culture.” Interpretations of Islam. Princeton, N.J.: The Darwin Press Inc., 1985. Print.