The story begins with Meursault, a young clerk living in Algiers, receiving a telegram informing him that his mother has died at a home for the elderly in Marengo, eighty kilometres away. Displaying a detached and ambiguous attitude regarding the exact day of her passing, he requests two days of leave from his reluctant employer. Meursault then takes a hot, exhausting bus ride to Marengo, sleeping through most of the journey. Upon arriving at the home, he meets the director, who reassures Meursault that placing his mother in the facility was the right choice given his modest salary.
The director escorts him to the mortuary, where his mother's coffin rests. Left alone with the caretaker, Meursault declines an offer to open the coffin to view his mother's body, a choice that makes him feel self-conscious. Instead of mourning, he notices physical details, such as the bright afternoon light and the caretaker's backstory as a Parisian. As night falls, the caretaker turns on harsh, blinding electric lights. Meursault drinks coffee and smokes cigarettes with the caretaker directly next to the coffin. Soon, his mother’s friends from the home arrive to join the vigil. Meursault observes them with clinical precision, noting their physical infirmities and feeling momentarily judged by their presence. One woman cries continuously, which irritates him, though she eventually quietens down. Meursault grows increasingly fatigued and physically uncomfortable, eventually falling asleep.
The next morning, the funeral procession is prepared. The director permits Thomas Pérez, an elderly resident who was inseparable from Meursault's mother, to attend the burial. The procession sets out under an increasingly brutal, oppressive sun. It consists of the hearse, the village priest, altar boys, the director, Meursault, an executive nurse, and Pérez, who struggles to keep pace due to a limp. As the heat intensifies, Meursault becomes overwhelmed by the physical discomfort, the melting tar on the road, and the heavy atmosphere. He chats briefly and indifferently with a funeral worker about the heat and his mother's age. Meanwhile, Pérez repeatedly cuts through fields to keep up, his face covered in a mixture of sweat and tears. At the cemetery, Meursault observes the burial with the same emotional detachment, noting details like the red soil and Pérez fainting from exhaustion. Once the ceremony concludes, Meursault returns to Algiers by bus, feeling an immense sense of relief and joy at the prospect of finally going to bed to sleep for twelve hours.