A Sickness Called Death: The Significance of Salamano's Dog Anonymous College

The French novel The Stranger, written by Albert Camus and translated by Matthew Ward, describes a French-colonized Algeria in the 1940’s. Throughout the novel, central arguments and themes are being linked together by different scenes. In the scene that brings into focus Salamano and his dog, Camus demonstrates that routine is an illusion of control, the nearness of death leads to awareness of the choice between serenity and sorrow, and that all choices are equal.

Camus uses Salamano’s treatment of his dog as a symbol for routine in order to demonstrate the importance of routine—an illusion of control. In terms of appearance, it seems that Salamano cares more about his dog after his dog was gone than when the dog was in his company. Camus describes that Salamano’s daily routine with the dog consists of “[them standing] there on the side walk and [staring] at each other, the dog in terror, the man in hatred” and Salamano constantly swears, yanks, and spits at the dog (Camus 27). However, after the disappearance of his dog, Salamano searches the streets again and again looking for his dog. This reveals Salamano’s dependence on his dog—an inseparability whose roots lie within the comfort of routine. Even though they have been...