The Stranger, Journal 4

5. What symbolic role does the sun/light play in the novel? What theme does it connect to?

"I was absorbed by the feeling that the sun was doing me a lot of good" (50).

This is the ONLY time the sun is talked about positively from Mersault. 

"The was the same as it had been the day I'd buried Maman, and like then, my forehead especially was hurting me, all the veins throbbing under my skin" (58-59).

"I wanted to hear the murmur of its water again, to escape the sun and the strain and the women's tears, and to find shade and rest again at last" (57). 

"Once out in the street, because I was so tired and also because we hadn't opened the blinds, the day, already bright with sun, hit me like a slap in the face" (47). 

"By now the sun was overpowering (55).

"The sun glinted off Raymond's gun as he handed it to me" (56).

"He was lying on his back, with his hands behind his head, his forehead in the shade of the rock, the rest of his body in the sun" (58).

"And this time, without getting up, the Arab drew his knife and held it up to me in the sun" (59)

"The trigger gave; I felt the smooth underside of the butt; and there, in that noise, sharp and deafening at the same time, is where it all started. I shook off the sweat and sun" (59).

It seems like once he killed the Arab, the sun stopped bothering him. Relief?

First quote to analyze: "She said, 'If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.' She was right. There was no way out" (17).

In this quote, the nurse is speaking to Mersault about the unrelenting sun following them on the day of Mersault's Mother's funeral. Mersault takes a different spin on the nurse's words though. Mersault thinks of the sun as something unavoidable. He is constantly being followed by the sun's rays and when Mersault says "there was no way out" (17), this implies Mersault's understanding that there is no escape from the sun. The sun represents destiny, but  more specifically, when a human is chosen to die. Mersault realizes that every man is born with a same destiny and that destiny is death. Every man must die and until that point, they will be followed by the unavoidable sun. This quote shows Mersault coming to terms with the inescapable fact that that every life must end in death.

Second quote: "Once out in the street, because I was so tied and also because we hadn't opened the blinds, the day, already bright with sun, hit me like a slap on the face" (47).

Mersault trying to avoid the sun by saying "we hadn't opened the blinds" (47). Mersault is haunted by the idea that the sun is inescapable and he tries to suppress the idea. But once he does acknowledge the bright sun, he is "slapped" on the face (47). Obviously Mersault is not literally slapped by the sun, but he is once again awoken to the realization that the sun is still there watching over him. His destiny of death is still awaiting him and to Mersault, this harsh realization is like a slap on the face. Also, later on in the novel when Mersault is about to shoot the Arab, Mersault states that the sun is "cutting" his eyes. Mersault often uses graphic and violent language to describe the sun. Mersault thinks of the sun as the enemy.