The Sun...The Setting Sun

In my reading of Albert Camus' The Stranger, I observed the sun to be a symbol of the inevitability of death. The sun was described repeatedly as a problem. After all, Mersault blames the sun for why he shot the Arab. He recalls that right before he kills the Arab "The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That's when everything began to reel...My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave..." (p. 79) Also, the sun was present at his mother’s funeral. “All around me there was still the same glowing countryside flooded with sunlight. The glare from the sky was unbearable.” (p. 16) But these events have been discussed at length in discussion.

So often the sun is seen as s symbol for life, and the setting sun a symbol of death. It is a cycle, inevitable and unchanging, just as all humans will die.

I found it extremely interesting to extend upon this idea and note that Mersault was to die at sunrise. He dreaded the sun setting every day as it brought him little hope of living to see the light again. Just as the sun sets every day, everyone must die. Accepting this as fact, allows for a peaceful flow of the cycle. Whether the characters in the book believe it or not, at some point they all must die. Once Mersault accepts this, he is able to face his death calmly. On the final pages of the novel, Mersault says that “Then, in the dark hour before dawn…for the first time in a long time [he] thought about Maman…Evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again.” He understands that life is a cycle at this point and therefore is able to face his execution day calmly.