The role of the Sun in the novel “The Stranger” Anonymous 12th Grade

The Sun reveals itself as a symbol and a motif in the book as early as Maman’s funeral, it continues to be a sort of mood setter for Meursault, it sometimes makes him feel calm and peaceful, while sometimes it annoys and torments him, it presents itself in different forms- light and heat, it influences the antagonist’s actions, how the author uses this motif and symbol throughout the novel is going to be analyzed in this work.

The Sun makes its appearance from the first page:“I caught the two oclock bud. It was very hot. I ate at the restaurant…” In the entrance of the novel the motif - the Sun, presents itself in the form of heat as can be seen in the fragment above, however the author merely introduces to the reader the concept of heat and does not use it as a direct symbol or literary device unlike further on in the novel. Going through the pages there are several other hints of the Sun being mentioned : “I was surprised at how fast the sun was climbing in the sky” it slowly creates itself as a recurring icon, a motif, within the novel, and gives a hint that it is not for a lack of descriptive vocabulary that the author keeps re-using it.

Later on the Sun starts to build itself as a symbol ‘if you go slowly, you risk getting...