The Stranger: Book 1, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

The next morning is Saturday and Meursault takes the streetcar to the public beach where he runs into Marie Cordona, a former co-worker whom Meursault had "had a thing for." They swim together and flirt, Marie laughing and Meursault laying his head on her stomach as they share a float. They decide to go see a Fernandel movie together that night.

When they get dressed after swimming, Marie is startled to see that Meursault is wearing a mourning tie and further shocked to hear his mother died the day before. Meursault stops himself from apologizing, thinking, "it didn't mean anything. Besides, you always feel a little guilty." They still go to the movies. They feel each other up in the theater and Marie goes back to Meursault's apartment.

Meursault wakes alone on Sunday morning, bothered because he "hates Sundays." He sleeps till noon, smokes, and then spends the afternoon people watching on his balcony. He sees waves of families walking. When the crowds thin out, he assumes the matinée shows have begun. In the evening, he watches soccer fans returning from the stadiums, moviegoers going home, and young couples on dates. The street lamps go on, dimming the stars and making "the pavement glisten." Hair, mouths, and jewelry glisten too.

As he goes to bed, Meursault notices the reflection in his mirror of "a corner of my table with my alcohol lamp next to some pieces of bread." He thinks nothing of it and feels he is back in his same routines, unchanged by Mme Meursault's death.