Description of Place
The narrator describes the place where heretics, “puritans of Islam,” settled in the desert centuries earlier because they knew it had nothing anybody else would want:
“it was as far from the half-civilized world of the coast as a lifeless cratered planet might be from the earth”
Darkness
Camus does not disappoint in adding the seemingly infinite supply of use the of darkness as a metaphor in 20th century (and beyond) literature:
“The first darkness has finished flowing; it had ebbed like a tide, leaving behind it a cloud of stars”
Settlers
An old man is describing a time when the French government had raised fifty million francs to fund colony of settlers. The enticement was a house and two hectares of land. Many of the men:
“were the kind who believe in Santa Claus. And their Santa Claus wore a burnoose.”
A burnoose is a long cloak wore by Arabs.
Teachers
A metaphorical musing on the role of the educator:
“a teacher in a school is more like a father; he takes over his role almost entirely; he is as inevitable and he is part of what is necessary in your life”
Character Description
A character is describing Ernest who is, shall we say, quite quick to rise to anger:
“The impossibility of reasoning or even taking with him made his rages seem like a natural phenomenon.”
