The Meursault Investigation

by

Kamel Daoud

Roumi Term Analysis

The Arabic word for “foreigner,” which Algerians use to describe all French settlers.

Roumi Quotes in The Meursault Investigation

The The Meursault Investigation quotes below are all either spoken by Roumi or refer to Roumi. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and its Aftermath Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

Arab. I never felt Arab, you know. Arab-ness is like Negro-ness, which only exists in the white man’s eyes. In our neighborhood, in our world, we were Muslims, we had given names, faces, and habits. Period. The others were “the strangers,” the roumis God brought here to put us to the test, but whose days were numbered anyway […].

Related Characters: Harun (speaker)
Related Symbols: Names
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Meursault Investigation PDF

Roumi Term Timeline in The Meursault Investigation

The timeline below shows where the term Roumi appears in The Meursault Investigation. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
Colonialism and its Aftermath Theme Icon
...white colonists. Growing up, he thought of himself as a Muslim and the French as roumis who would surely be forced out one day. The Algerians aren’t hostile toward the foreigners,... (full context)