Previous
Mood
Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Death:
Death and its inevitability is a motif that pervades The Stranger. The climax of the novel, Meursault's murder of the Arab man, is a moment where two lives are taken: Meursault kills the Arab man and sentences himself to death, beginning the long chain of events that will end with his public execution. Death and decay comes up again and again elsewhere in the novel: for example, the story begins with Maman's funeral, and Meursault's peculiar reaction to his mother's death informs the reader's understanding of his character as well as any other moment in the story.
Another example of death as a motif is Salamano's dog, whom he gets only because his wife died and whose short lifespan brings the decaying dog to the end of its life at the same time as Salamano. The significance of death throughout The Stranger can not be overstated, especially considering its role in the novel's beginning, climax, and conclusion. At the same time, death plays a crucial role in Camus's conception of the absurd: it is life's futility that makes physical experience so important, and it is only through embracing death that one can confront the absurdity of life. The fact that so much of the absurdist novella revolves around death, then, is unsurprising, and it is precisely because he is forced to confront his death that Meursault embodies Camus's notion of the absurd in The Stranger.
Related Themes:
