Block 2 English Honors

April 20, 2006

The Robot Lady

In Albert Camus' first novel, The Stranger, the reader follows Meursault through a life filled with nothing. Rising in the morning, eating, working all day, perhaps eating an evening meal, and then going to bed, Meursault simply goes through the motions of life, lacking true feeling or any zest for life. Camus' absurd novel leaves the reader without answers to more than one question; however, the one most prevalent to the development of Meursault's personality was the meeting with the robot woman. Why is Meursault so intrigued by the "robot woman" he meets in the diner?, the answer can be found by examining Camus' word choices used in the excerpt at the diner as well as referring to literary conventions, such as how Camus used the scene to further develop Meursault`s character.

When Meursault first encounters the robot...