250 Cao Xueqin
is in those sad statements that the reader fully comes
to understand how he is different.
Immediately after that, the prosecutor begins
to explain Meursault’s criminal soul. Meursault
recounts the prosecutor’s words: “He said that he
had peered into [my soul] and that he had found
nothing... [and] the truth was that I didn’t have
a soul and that nothing human... was within my
reach.” The verdict of guilty and sentence of execu-
tion fully explains how society—represented by
the jury—views Meursault. It is as if nothing can
explain or excuse what he has done, simply because
he is so different from anyone else.
Meursault is a man whose life has been ruled
by chance and whim. He does not actively try to be
different but simply ignores society’s expectations,
doing what he wants. The French title, L’Étranger,
is often translated as The Stranger but just as often as
The Outsider, and through his thoughts and behav-
ior, Meursault is easily regarded as both a stranger
and an outsider.
Chris Lessick
CAO XUEQIN Dream of the Red
Chamber (1791)
Also known as The Story of the Stone, this 120-chap-
ter work by Cao Xueqin (ca. 1715–ca. 1763) is
widely hailed as China’s greatest novel. Its compre-
hensive narrative depicts 18th-century Chinese aris-
tocratic life and features approximately 20 major and
400 minor characters. The novel portrays the color-
ful domestic life of the extended Jia family, including
their concubines and maids. It explores themes of
love, education, family, parenthood, gender,
social class, Chinese traditions and customs, and
the clash between worldly Confucian values and
more esoteric Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.
Dream of the Red Chamber opens with the mythic
story of a stone that is deemed unsuitable and
rejected by the goddess Nü-wa for the purpose of
mending the firmament of heaven. Depressed and
ashamed, this magical stone is taken to the earthly
realm by a Buddhist monk and a Taoist priest to
induce growth upon its consciousness. It enters the
mortal world as a boy, Jia Bao-yu (Precious Jade), so
named because he is born with an inscribed piece
of clear jade in his mouth. In his youth, Bao-yu
often seeks and is intoxicated by the company of
his female cousins and maids. His consequent lack
of interest in scholarly pursuit incites displeasure in
his father, Jia Zheng, a strict Confucian scholar. This
causes much tension in the Jia household.
Meanwhile, a celestial plant, which the stone had
daily watered and revived in heaven, is incarnated
in the earthly realm as Bao-yu’s female cousin, Lin
Dai-yu (Black Jade), who is destined to repay the
stone’s kindness with a legacy of tears. A triangular
romance ensues, involving Bao-yu, Lin Dai-yu, and
Bao-yu’s other female cousin, Xue Bao-chai (Pre-
cious Clasp), whom the elders trick Bao-yu into
marrying. The brokenhearted Dai-yu dies as a result
of this deception. Bao-yu eventually wins ancestral
glory for his family and rescues them from their
decline into poverty when he is placed seventh in
the civil service examination. Yet, instead of return-
ing home, a newly enlightened Bao-yu renounces
the mortal world and is transported back to heaven
by the Buddhist monk and Taoist priest.
Edwina QuekFamily in Dream of the Red Chamber
The aristocratic Jia clan living in Jinling enjoys a
history of relations with the imperial family. Bao-
yu’s elder sister, Yuan-chun, is the emperor’s imperial
concubine. Bao-yu’s great-grandfather and great-
granduncle were also bestowed with inheritable
princely titles for services rendered to the emperor.
Both these noble branches of the Jia family reside in
adjoining mansions called Rong-guo and Ning-guo.
The novel traces the declining prosperity of the
Jia clan caused by extravagant living and a gross
mismanagement of household finances. With each
succeeding generation, increasing moral degrada-
tion in its male members accelerates the family’s
downfall. With the exception of Bao-yu and his
upright father, Jia Zheng, Bao-yu’s uncle, Jia She;
male cousins Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, and Xue Pan; and
younger half brother, Jia Huan, have all fallen into
vice. Bao-yu’s uncle, Jia Jing, who resides in a moun-
tain, devotes his life to alchemy and a delusive search
for immortality.
The Jias’ female members manage the family’s
domestic affairs. Grandmother Jia, the widow of