In The Meursault Investigation, “Independence” refers to Algerian independence from France, achieved in 1962 at the end of a rebellion known as the War of Liberation.
Independence Quotes in The Meursault Investigation
The The Meursault Investigation quotes below are all either spoken by Independence or refer to Independence. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
Therefore I’m going to do what was done in this country after Independence: I’m going to take the stones from the old houses the colonists left behind, remove them one by one, and build my own house, my own language. The murderer’s words and expressions are my unclaimed goods. Besides, the country’s littered with words that don’t belong to anyone anymore.
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Who, me? Nostalgic for French Algeria? No! You haven’t understood a word I’ve said. I was just trying to tell you that back then, we Arabs gave the impression that we were waiting, not going around in circles like today.
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Chapter 11
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The gratuitousness of Musa’s death was unconscionable. And now my revenge had just been struck down to the same level of insignificance!
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Independence Term Timeline in The Meursault Investigation
The timeline below shows where the term Independence appears in The Meursault Investigation. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...of his own language. Instead, Harun will do “what was done in this country after Independence”: he will recycle the stones from the colonists’ houses to build “my own house” and...
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Harun finds it stunning that even after Independence, no one tried to figure out the story behind Meursault’s victim or locate his family....
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In the next moment, Harun retracts this comment, saying it’s a lie. In fact, “Independence only pushed people on both sides to switch roles.” Before, Arabs were “ghosts” in their...
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After Independence, Mama tried for years to have Musa classified as a martyr, in order to be...
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Chapter 2
...he is frightened of the city, which “remembers neither me nor my family.” Shortly after Independence, he returned to Algiers alone, wanting to conduct his own investigation of Musa’s death. As...
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Chapter 3
...if she’s found a wife. Neither Harun nor his mother know how old they are—before Independence, people relied on landmark events rather than calendars to tell time.
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...finds a job as a housekeeper and “waited, with me perched on her back, for Independence.” Her employers are a French family, Monsieur and Madame Larquais, who flee quickly after the...
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...an unheard question, Harun says fiercely that he’s not nostalgic for French Algeria. However, before Independence, “we Arabs gave the impression that we were waiting, not going around in circles like...
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...mentions in his book. It’s possible that her grave was uprooted in the chaos after Independence, but it’s also possible that Meursault lied about his origins in order to make himself...
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Chapter 6
...French neighborhoods deciding which houses they would claim after their inhabitants left. They intuited that Independence would come, but didn’t anticipate the violence involved.
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Chapter 8
...murder will be considered part of the combat. It’s one of the first days of Independence and all is chaos, with the French trying to flee or save their possessions while...
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Chapter 9
...his mother, and in any case so many people have died in the lead-up to Independence that no one would consider it important.
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Chapter 10
...while fighting continues to rage throughout the country. Now, thinking back on the events surrounding Independence, he wishes he could write a book—a sort of cookbook describing how the country was...
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Chapter 13
...one pays them visits, especially since Harun has disgraced himself by refusing to fight for Independence. He’s startled to hear a stranger utter Musa’s name. Mama invites the woman inside.
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