Chapter 5
Raymond calls Meursault at the office and invites him to spend Sunday at his friend’s beach house near Algiers, noting that the friend’s wife will also be there. He also tells Meursault he has been followed all day by a group of Arabs, one of whom is the brother of his former mistress, and asks Meursault to alert him if that man appears at Meursault’s building that evening. Later the boss summons Meursault and explains a vague plan to open a new office in Paris that would deal directly with big companies. He asks Meursault’s opinion, offers him the chance to live in Paris and travel part of the year, and criticizes Meursault’s lack of ambition when he gives a non‑committal answer. That evening Marie comes to Meursault’s apartment and proposes marriage. Meursault responds indifferently, saying it makes no difference and that he probably does not love her. The conversation spirals into a discussion of love, the seriousness of marriage, and whether Meursault would accept a similar proposal from another woman; he again answers ambiguously. He tells Marie about the boss’s Paris proposal; she expresses a desire to see Paris, and Meursault describes Paris as “dirty, lots of pigeons and dark courtyards, everybody’s pale.” They walk through the main streets, comment on the beautiful women they see, and decide to have dinner at Céleste’s. At Céleste’s a strange little woman with bright eyes takes a seat, orders the entire menu in a rapid clear voice, calculates the bill in advance, pays the exact amount plus tip from a pocket, then pulls out a blue pencil and a radio‑program magazine and meticulously checks off almost every program while she eats. She leaves robotically after finishing her meal. Meursault follows her, watches her move with extraordinary speed along the curb, loses sight of her, and briefly ponders her peculiarity. Returning home, he finds his neighbor Salamano waiting outside. Inside, Salamano explains his dog is lost, possibly run over, and that the police keep no records of such incidents. Meursault suggests obtaining another dog. Salamano recounts his life: a late marriage, his wife’s death, his youthful ambition to act in military vaudevilles, work on the railroads, a modest pension, and the adoption of a dog after his wife died, feeding it from a bottle and aging together. He describes the dog’s bad temper, its illness, and the daily ointment routine, noting that the real sickness is old age. Salamano also mentions that some neighborhood people think poorly of Meursault for sending his mother to a home, but he believes Meursault loved his mother and that the home was a practical choice due to lack of money. He offers Meursault his hand, feels the scales on his skin, smiles, and before leaving says, “I hope the dogs don’t bark tonight. I always think it’s mine.”