WJEC A2 French, Thursday 19th June 2014

Hey, I'm doing 'l'étranger' for the essay, anyone any ideas for the essay questions?? Thanks

I'm doing the same! To be honest the questions have been different every year so far, so anything could come up! I can't (nor can my teachers) really predict what essay might come up. BUT having said that we looked at several points that you can pretty much mention for any questions. I'll list some below:

- MEURSAULT'S INDIFFERENCE : mother's funeral, love & marriage, racism, religion, domestic violence (Raymond abusing his mistress) and of course Arab's death (shoots four time also shows his indifference), in prison scene he thinks of any female rather than Marie specifically,

- MEURSAULT'S CONNECTION TO NATURE: his life revolves around physical aspects (sun, heat, hunger, thirst etc.), strong presence of sun during several events in novel (funeral, encounter with Marie, beach scene - arab's death promoted by strong heat and sun, his execution)

- MEURSAULT IS HONEST: he doesn't lie when asked to by lawyer, shows he isn't immoral, shows the lawyer will lie (lawyer represents society, therefore society is hypocritical) to succeed

- ARAB'S AND RACISM/DISCRIMINATION: arabs have a name in the novel - always just referred to 'arab', arab's never speak in the novel, have menial jobs (such as the nurse at the carehome), Raymond's mistress who is an arab is beaten up/abused - she's an arab, the death of the arab plays no importance in Meursault's trial (the jury/trial is more focused on Meursault's indifference)

- MEURSAULT IS AMORAL/LACKS MORAL JUDGEMENT: he kills an arab because he is simply amoral and indifferent, he doesn't call the police when Raymond beats his mistress (even though Marie wants to), he smokes and drinks infront of his mother's coffin

- MEURSAULT REJECTS SOCIAL NORMS(INDIFFERENCE): he doesn't cry during his mother's funeral, he goes out with Marie and watches a comedy the day after his mother's funeral, he doesn't share the racial aspects of society, doesn't care about love or marriage, doesn't believe in god/atheist

- MEURSAULT REJECTS RELIGION: he doesn't believe in god, magistrate calls him "Monsieur l'Antéchrist", society is relgious and so his atheist beliefs add to his condamnation to death

- MARIE WANT'S TO CONFORM TO SOCIETY'S EXPECTATIONS: show wants to have a status within society, she want's love, want to get married, move to Paris (when Meursault receives a job offer) for her opportunity to progress as a woman

- SUN IS IMAGE OF TENSION: presence during arab's death, mother's funeral, confrontation between Meursault and the Arab, his execution day

- HE IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH DUE TO INDIFFERENCE: trial focuses on; him not crying during funeral, doesn't believe in God, unmarried relation with Marie, shooting arab 4 times (rather than the killing itself)

- MEURSAULT & RAYMOND'S FRIENDSHIP: Raymond is clearly the imoral character - Raymond is a criminal, he beats his mistress, he uses vulgar language, he has enemies (the arabs). Raymond is used by Camus to show comparison between him and Meursault, Raymond shows that Meursault is the amoral character, Meursault agrees to write letter to help Raymond's plan to beat his mistress, Meursault is just simply indifferent to everything

- MEURSAULT'S FRIENDS: Celeste - restaurant owner, lends Meursault blacksuit, defends Meursault during trial, says crime was just a "malheur",
Raymond - defends Meursault during trial, stresses he slapped victims sister and tension was between Raymond and arab instead
Salamano - old neighbour, wife died, dog became his companion, he beat and abused his dog, dog ran away, Salamano weeps for his dog, Salamno defends Meursault, says Meursault was good to his dog
Masson - Raymond's friend who owns a cabin at the beach, says Meursault is an honest man during trial




Okay so there are some key points. Obviously not all of them relate to every question that could come up, but most of them can be used in some way or another to answer most questions.

The theme of indifference is pretty much cruicial and can be used with any question, you just have to put it in the right context.

Those are my points, and they aren't perfect but I'm going to try and memorise them and hopefully that way I can answer any question that comes up. Also sorry if I've repeated some points, but I think some points fit with several different ideas.

I'm going to read the novel again though, my points are becoming quite vague I think.

I hope this kinda helps, but then again you might have a better plan to answer any question on l'Etranger.

Thank you very much. I found your list quite useful. I wish you good luck