Albert Camus has his own toolbox of literary devices when it comes to emphasizing the theme of The Stranger, one of them being his unique meaning and its use of secondary characters. Whether major or minor, each character in the book serves a purpose and corroborates the theme in one way or another. Camus describes his secondary characters as outwitting Meursault in one aspect or another, and thus highlighting Meursault's characteristics. Whether through close ties such as family relationships (Mom) and friends (Salamano, Raymond and Marie), or through ties as distant as the people with whom he briefly converses (Chaplain), or even complete strangers (Pérez and an unidentified lady at the restaurant), characters that Meursault meets foil and thus underline many aspects of his nature. Furthermore, because Meursault aptly embodies Camus's ideology of the absurd, emphasizing Meursault through secondary characteristics simply highlights Camus's doctrine and the theme of the book. Meursault's Mother, when she is introduced to the reader, has already died; however, his past relationships that are revealed when Meursault attends the funeral directly contrast with his son's emotional receptivity, or lack thereof. At Mom’s funeral, a woman “in the second row…emitted a small, choking sob” (8). The guard then relieves Meursault of his frustration by explaining that “she was devoted to [her] mother” and that they were close friends (8). In addition to friendship, Mom also embraces romance during her final days with her relationship with Thomas Perez at home, where "[he] and [Mom] [are] almost inseparable" and "people [would laugh] ] by Perez about having a fiancé. » (10). Mom's attempt to form the... middle of paper ... possible option. Camus' main character, Meursault, embodies this third option; by accepting the circumstances and being indifferent to them, Meursault manages to free himself from all possible causes of anxiety and find happiness. Furthermore, Meursault's rejection of religion as a belief, his acceptance of the "benevolent indifference of the universe", and his acceptance of the circumstances that all lead to happiness personify Camus's vision of the absurd, the philosophy that Camus attempts to describe in The Stranger (76). ). By using foil characters to contrast Meursault in his actions or personality, Camus creates several polarizing situations, making Meursault the extreme embodiment of the absurd in each contrasting relationship and thus highlighting his ideology in the process. Works Cited Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: AA Knopf, 1946. Print.