Chapter Plot Summary of The Outsider - Study Guide by Albert Camus

For Meursault the day has become hellish. They swim, have lunch and Raymond, Masson and Meursault walk along the beach. A confrontation with Arab men ensues, one who pulls a knife and cuts Raymond on the arm and mouth. Masson and Meursault help

Raymond returns to the bungalow, and then Meursault follows Raymond down the

beach and persuades him to give him the revolver. Meursault later returns to the beach, is very much struck by the heat of the sun and is surprised to find the Arab who draws a knife. Meursault fires once then four times again shattering the silence of the afternoon.

Part 2 – Chapter 1

During his first interviews with the police, Meursault has the feeling that no one is interested in him or his case. The magistrate explains that, in keeping with the law, the court will appoint a lawyer to defend him. The next day, a lawyer arrives at his cell and appears to have investigated his private life. He tries to influence the way Meursualt answers questions in trial, to dissuade him from being honest and blunt. Meursault refuses to lie and answers all the magistrates questions honestly but is far more affected by the heat of the sun. It is clear that he feels an outsider in the face of religious and judicial institutions. He does not sob and is entirely unmoved when the crucifix is brought out.

Part 2 – Chapter 2

Meursault tells of life in prison. First he is put into a big cell with other Arabs, and is subsequently moved to a small one. Marie comes to visit him but they have to shout to hear each other. Tormented by what life was like as a free man, he gradually becomes accustomed to his new environment and looks forward to daily walks in the courtyard and being visited by his lawyer. His main problem is how to pass the time, so he thinks about old lovers and the furniture in his room and becomes particularly fascinated with a newspaper clipping of a crime in Czechoslovakia. The days slip by and time seems to lose all meaning. Only yesterday and tomorrow have any bearing on his life.

Part 2 - Chapter 3

A year after the murder, the trial begins. Everyone in the court seems to know each other and Meursault pays little attention to the opening phases of court procedure. He goes through the formality of court procedure before the questions shift to his relationship with his mother and a warden from home is interrogated. The doorkeeper is the next witness and he talks of smoking and drinking café au lait at the vigil. Thomas Perez assures that Meursault didn’t cry. Celeste defends him saying he was not one to waste his words but hardly the secretive kind. Marie is interrogated about the day after the funeral, the film and the fact that they slept together. Masson and Salamano prove futile and incoherent as witnesses. Raymond is the last witness and he tries to explain that it was he who has having row with the Arab. Argument breaks out over whether Meursault’s mother’s funeral has any bearing on the case. It seems he is being tried for his indifference; the court adjourns for the rest of the day.

Part 2 – Chapter 4

Meursault becomes yet more detached as the trial continues. He is bored by the prosecutor’s speech yet fascinated by his movements and gestures. Meursault is described as soulless and without remorse; all he says in defence is that he did not mean to kill the Arab. The trial continues the next day, it is very humid and Meursault is mesmerized by the sound of an ice cream vendor’s horn in the street, reminding him of all his past pleasures. Waiting for the verdict, Meursault realizes he hasn’t thought much about Marie. On hearing he is to be decapitated in some public place, he realizes that he is being treated with respectful sympathy, but can only admit that he has stopped thinking.

Part 2 – Chapter 5