The Stranger

The butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. Small events can impact larger events just as historical and cultural events can impact larger events such as the writing of a book. In the book The Stranger, historical and cultural events impacted the writing of the book. The Stranger is a book about the main character, Meursault, and the psychology of his character. In The Stranger he shows no remorse for his mother and a while later kills an Arab or Native Algerian. The book is set in Algeria in the 1940’s while it was called French-Algeria and under French control. The author of the book Albert Camus was born in Drèan, Algeria and lived a life of poverty. Some of the events that impacted the writing of the book were, the jobs for the French in Algeria, the status of Native Algiers and the executions taken place in Algeria. Understanding these events helps us …show more content…
During the period in which the French had control, French citizens keep jobs such as, mining for resources such as phosphates, iron ore and oil and farming for cash crops. In the book Meursault’s job was at a shipping company. The job was not exciting and was common, but Meursault did not feel any sort of way towards his job. This shows us more of his personality and why he felt that it doesn’t matter what you do in life. During this time period also France was considered to be a better place to live, and many people from Algeria wanted to immigrate there to find work. When Meursault was offered a position in Paris, it can also show Marie’s motivation to marry him. The jobs impacted how Albert Camus wrote The Stranger by adding in wealth and happiness to how the characters