The Stranger Part 1 Question

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Marie is characterized as a young, hedonistic person who represents someone who has not seen the existentialism of life. Instead of trying to shape her own destiny, she regularly hooks up with Meursault and sits out in the sun all day. Camus uses her to expound of exis-tentialism and describe how hedonism is useless because in the end, everyone dies and there is no pleasure in that. Marie is the opposite of Mary from the Bible, who is angelic. Thus, her actions are intensified so that her pleasure-seeking ways are considered sinful. Sa-lamano is the complete opposite of Marie, though he has also has not seen the existential-ism of life. He has been walking his dog twice a day for eight years and has not changed his route ever. He symbolizes someone who does not realize the monotony of life and thus does not change it. Salamano’s naivety is also shown when he regularly kicks and swears at his dog. One would think that Salamano and his dog would come to accept one another after eight years, but they each are blind to reality. Salamano and his dog are both scabby, showing how they are very much alike. Salamano is also the opposite of his Biblical refer-ence, Solomon. Solomon is a wise king whereas Salamano is an old, depressed man. Both people are character foils to Meursault, who is the average of the two. He actively engages in hedonist activity with Marie, but sees the meaninglessness of life with his indifferent atti-tude towards his mother’s death. He represents existentialism exactly, being both apathetic towards life but also doing what he wants to do.