Part 1: I believe that Matthew Ward's translation of The Stranger has the most literary value. This is because I think that Gilbert's translation had entirely too much description. Ward's translation uses adjectives and extensive imagery sparingly, and that is most likely how Camus wrote The Stranger. I think that because if Camus did write his novel with as much description as Gilbert uses, then Ward would have translated it too, like Gilbert did. I think Gilbert's style embellished Camus' novel, based on what I saw in class today. By choosing Ward's translation, I am valuing the integrity of the character and characterization of Meursault, that he doesn't care much about the flowers, or the little villages, or the frou-frou things. He cares about what's happening to him and not much else, it seems from Ward's translation.
Part 2: I personally would prefer the title of The Foreigner instead of The Stranger. When I first read the book, I was frustrated by not knowing who or what the stranger was. I think that The Foreigner is more obviously a specific person. I think that title would have double meaning. It would reference/represent the Arab man that Meursault shoots, and it also would emphasize that Meursault is a kind of foreigner in his own country because he is so oblivious to social norms and customs. He is insensitive to others' feelings and has almost no empathy. This makes him seem like a foreigner to me, someone with a different way of looking at things. For example, at the vigil, Meursault is annoyed with how his fellow "mourners" are reacting to his mother's death. "The woman kept on crying [...] I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore" (10). His lack of compassion towards the old people in the home really distances the reader from Meursault and, to me, makes him seem like a foreigner in his own world.
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