Characters

• Meursault – A young French Algerian living in colonial Algiers and working as a shipping clerk, Meursault is passionless, disaffected, and without ambition. His primary priority is his own physical comfort. Convinced of the world's indifference to him and to everyone else, Meursault himself is indifferent towards those around him and has only superficial relationships. His relentless honesty and refusal to subscribe to conventional belief systems or to social niceties alienate Meursault from society.
• Raymond Sintès – Meursault's neighbor who adopts Meursault as a friend by enlisting him to help sort out a conflict with his mistress. Though exposed in court as a pimp, Raymond is cagey about his profession and tends to talk around the truth or to lie outright in order to present himself in the best light, showing a concern for public opinion that's at odds with Meursault's perennial honesty and disregard for social reputation.
• Marie Cordona – Once a typist in Meursault's office, Marie is young, beautiful, easy going, and openhearted. Her romantic feelings for Meursault seem authentic and she is genuinely discouraged when Meursault confirms he doesn't love her as an individual, that he'd marry any woman like her. Still, she is remarkably resilient and is able to cultivate closeness and happiness with Meursault in spite of his chilly attitudes.
• The Prosecutor – Determined to portray Meursault as a cold- blooded, premeditating murderer and soulless monster unfit for society, the prosecutor builds his case around Meursault's insensitive attitude towards his mother, evidence that shouldn't properly be relevant. Still, the prosecutor is passionate, articulate, and convincing. Even Meursault notes that he is a talented lawyer.
• The Defense Lawyer – Meursault's lawyer who tries to defend Meursault's character, to present his crime as an accident, and to disassociate Meursault's behavior at his mother's funeral from the murder. He is exhausted by Meursault's unyielding impassiveness and by his self-sabotaging lack of savvy about public opinion. A less talented lawyer, in Meursault's opinion, than the prosecutor.
• Céleste – The good-hearted proprietor of the restaurant where Meursault is a regular. Céleste does his best to testify to Meursault's good character at the trial but is not taken seriously by the court.
• Madame Meursault – Meursault's mother, who dies right before the novel begins. Meursault's decision to send her to an old people's home combined with his calmness at her funeral damn him in the eyes of the jury at his murder trial.
• The Funeral Director – Works at the old people's home where Madame Meursault lived and died. Testifies to Meursault's insensitivity at his mother's funeral.
• The Caretaker – Works at the old people's home where Madame Meursault lived and died. Testifies to Meursault's insensitivity at his mother's funeral.
• Thomas Pérez – Madame Meursault's closest friend and rumored fiancée at the old people's home.
• Salamano – Meursault's neighbor and the owner of a scabby, hairless dog which he publicly berates and abuses until its loss – then he is heartbroken.
• Masson – Raymond's friend and owner of the beach house that Meursault is visiting when he shoots the Arab.
• The Arab – The man Meursault murders. Raymond's nemesis and the brother of Raymond's mistress.
• The Boss – Meursault's boss who offers Meursault the opportunity to transfer to Paris and accuses Meursault of lacking all ambition when Meursault declines the offer.
• The Examining Magistrate – An examining magistrate who attempts, futilely, to help Meursault by Christianizing him. After his efforts fail, he calls Meursault "Monsieur Antichrist."
• The Chaplain – A priest who repeatedly tries to visit Meursault in prison and endeavors unsuccessfully to Christianize Meursault during their one visit.
• The Strange Little Woman – A peculiar and meticulous woman whom Meursault once eats beside in silence at Céleste's, then follows out of curiosity. She appears at his trial.
• Emmanuel – Meursault's co-worker, a dispatcher.
• One Old Woman – A friend of Madame Meursault's. Her

  crying at the vigil irritates Meursault.
• The Nurse – A nurse at the old people's home who accompanies the funeral procession and tells Meursault, "There's no way out..."
• The Head Guard – The head guard at the prison who first makes Meursault realize that the point of prison is to take away a man's freedom.
• A Reporter – One of the press at Meursault's trial who explains to Meursault that his trial has been blown up because of the slow press season and because of the subsequent parricide trial.
• The First Policeman – A policeman who rescues Raymond's mistress from Raymond's beating and slaps Raymond.
• The Presiding Judge – The presiding judge at Meursault's trial.
• Monsieur Meursault – Meursault's father, known to Meursault only through a story about how he was nauseated by seeing an execution.
• The Arab Nurse – A nurse at the old people's home who sits vigil over Madame Meursault.
• The Funeral Director – A funeral director who directs Madame Meursault's funeral procession.
• The Pallbearers – Pallbearers who carry Madame Meursault's coffin in the funeral procession. One informs the director that Meursault didn't know his mother's age.
• The Priest – A priest who performs Madame Meursault's funeral.
• The Parisienne – Masson's wife from Paris.