The Importance of the Meal in the Third Chapet of The Stranger by Albert Camus

In chapter two of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion, the author tell his readers that in literature, a meal is never just a meal. Whenever people eat or drink together, its communion. Communion is the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings and in literature it isn’t usually religious. Meals together show how well characters are, or aren‘t, getting along. All those at the table (or wherever said communion is taking place) have something in common, the basic human need for sustenance In The Stranger, a meal takes place between Meursault and Raymond Sintes in the third chapter. Raymond casually invited Meursault to a dinner of blood sausage and wine at his place and Meursault accepts so he won’t have to worry about providing a meal from himself.

This is where Meursault’s troubles begint At this dinner is where he becomes entangled in Raymond‘s problems with his mistress and the Arab, the man Meursault later on murder. Meursault focuses a lot on his surroundings, comparing it to his own apartment. Raymond tells Meursault about his fight with his mistress‘ brother and his plan to get revenge on her, asking for his help in luring her back to Raymond’s. Both of them are under the influence of wine, Meursault often commenting on how much he is consuming. This scene in The Stranger connect to chapter two of How to Read Literature like a Professor because Raymond is sharing intimate thoughts and feelings with Meursault, enlisting his help. Though Meursault isn’t making much of an effort to connect with Raymond be is going along with the plan and agreeing to anything Raymond says.

This is a turning point in the story because Meursault become involved with something that eventually leads to his demise. Before he was just observing those around him and being detached but Raymond ropes him into a plan and a bond is formed between them. Unlike with Marie, Meursault doesn’t get anything physical in return for his relationship with Raymond. This meal ties them together because Meursault is a part of the plot against Raymond‘s mistress and unintentionally becomes an enemy of the man he later on murders. In chapter eleven of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, More Than It‘s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence, the author explains how violence can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, and/or transcendent.