Symbolism in The Outsider

Symbol
Object
The sun

Day and Night

Marie

Raymond

The Courtroom
or
The vigil
Chaplain
Magistrate
Salamano and his
dog
The chair
The guillotine

Meaning of Symbol

Motif a recurring object, action, or idea with thematic importance.

Three motifs in the novel are:

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Quotations: Explain the importance of each quotation and what the author is trying to
say about life.
1. Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I dont know. I got a telegram from the home: Mother deceased.
Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours. That doesnt mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.
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2. She said, If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch
a chill inside the church. She was right. There was no way out.
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3. A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didnt mean anything but that I didnt think so.
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4. I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasnt
dissatisfied with mine here at all.
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5. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and
stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myselfso like a brother,
reallyI felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel
less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet
me with cries of hate.
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