Interpreting The Stranger Through Jackson Pollock's Untitled

Jackson Pollock’s Untitled and Albert Camus’s The Stranger have multiple connections. Jackson Pollock’s abstract painting is a plethora of red and black lines and curves with varying thicknesses and formulated shapes. Camus’s The Stranger, so far, is about the daily life on Monsieur Meursault after his mother’s death. Both The Stranger and Untitled can be connected and interpreted from many perspectives.

Jackson Pollock's Untitled

Pollock’s Untitled connects with The Stranger in multiple ways, especially Chapter 6. This point in The Stranger is when Meursault kills the Arab “leader” at the beach with Raymond’s gun after the first fight between the Arabs and Masson, Raymond, and Meursault. More obviously, in Untitled, the bloodshed through the fight until Meursault pulling the trigger can be seen throughout Pollock’s painting. Another connection could be the three faint figures that can be seen standing at an unidentified place (could be the beach) with the sun blazing in the background. For example, “But at the same time I noticed, at the far end of the beach and a long way from us, two Arabs in blue overalls coming in our direction. I looked at Raymond and he said, “It’s him,” Untitled could be Raymond, Masson, and Meursault noticing the three Arabs in the distance on the beach (Camus 72). The red could represent either death or bloodshed from fighting. In addition, the three guys could either represent the three Arab men, or Masson, Raymond, and Meursault. In addition to this scene from Chapter 6, the black circle around one of the figures could be Meursault’s target since the story is from his perspective, “If there’s any trouble, Masson, you take the other one. I’ll take care of my man. Meursault, if another one shows up, he’s yours,” and the figure with the red paint splatter on his head could be the Arab man Meursault killed at the end (Camus 72).

Overall, Pollock’s Untitled and Camus’s The Stranger can be connected in multiples ways when the viewer delves deep into both the story and the painting. That is how many paintings and other art pieces are made. The paintings may be painted to express one thing, but it is left to the viewer to interpret and connect it to something else in the future.