1) Why does Camus only reference Saturdays and Sundays and not other days?
"He told me that he spent Saturdays and Sundays and all his days off there" (50). I think Camus uses this to show freedom from society. On weekends Mersault "hooks up" with Marie, thus showing freedom from society and work. Camus sets a relaxed mood when Mersault is at the beach, but when Mersault is working Camus shows him as precise.
2) Why does Camus only show Mersault as seeing the physical life and not the emotional?
Maybe Camus is trying to express that humans desire the physical aspect of life, rather than the emotional aspect of life. Through Marie, Camus is expressing this one-sided life because Mersault always sees Marie as "glistening" or "beautiful" (51), and never really expresses his emotional feelings towards her.
3) Why does Camus describe everything with a color?
I believe he does this to stress Mersault only paying attention to the physical side of life. In the physical side of life, there are colors everywhere and everything can be described by a certain color, but in the emotional side of life there are not colors, everything is either black or white.
4) Why does Camus use the dog (Old Salamano) as a symbol, and what could it represent?
I thought about this one for a long time, but I could not come up with a sufficient answer. The best guess I have is that the dog represents something to do with the lack of freedom. Because his owner yells at him, it may show that the dog has no freedom from society.
5) Why does Camus show Mersault as being precise, and being relaxed?
These characterize Mersault as a person, showing the reader that in society, he has to be precise in his planning, and when he is not working, he has the freedom to do whatever he wants. This is important to the story because it definitely shows a contrast between the two lifestyles.
6) What does the motif of sleeping and drowsiness represent?
I think they represent freedom. Sleeping is something Mersault can do to escape from society. Sleeping is his freedom from his work and from other problems as well. Also, the cigarettes may represent this freedom from society, it is his way of escaping the chains of other people's demands.
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