Today, my mother died.
Genuine
Yes. In The Stranger (1942), Opening sentence (incipit), said by Meursault. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Camus’s own voice.
Checked against Albert Camus, L’étranger, opening sentence, excerpted in Gallimard’s teaching dossier L’étranger, Extrait 1: L’incipit, teaching dossier p. 4; the dossier identifies the opening passage as novel pp. 9–11, in the text of a page scan, not the image.
- Work
- The Stranger (L’Étranger), 1942
- Where
- Opening sentence (incipit)
- Translation
- Our own, not yet reviewed (no public-domain translation in our sources)
- Source
- Albert Camus, L’étranger, opening sentence, excerpted in Gallimard’s teaching dossier L’étranger, Extrait 1: L’incipit, teaching dossier p. 4; the dossier identifies the opening passage as novel pp. 9–11
- Checked
- In the text of a page scan, not the image
Researched by AI. Entry updated 29 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
About this quote
The scene
Meursault opens his account with the news of his mother’s death. Gallimard’s teaching dossier identifies this as the novel’s incipit and asks readers to consider the unsettling effect of its first sentence and the narrative voice. These are a fictional narrator’s words, not a statement about Camus’s own mother.
What it means
The narrator states a devastating event with striking brevity, leaving the reader to interpret his response rather than explaining his feelings.
Often misread
The plain statement is often treated as proof that Meursault feels nothing, or as Camus’s own declaration of indifference. The sentence alone establishes neither: its voice belongs to the novel’s narrator.
Topics
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- Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. Albert Einstein
Sources
Cite it
Albert Camus, The Stranger (1942), Opening sentence (incipit), our own translation. Spoken by Meursault. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/today-mother-died/ (29 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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