Meursault, a young clerk living in Algiers, receives a telegram informing him that his mother has died at an old age home in Marengo, eighty kilometers away. Unsure of the exact date of her death, he requests a two-day leave from his employer, who grants it reluctantly. After eating his lunch at a regular restaurant, Meursault catches the afternoon bus to Marengo. Exhausted by the stifling heat and the long, bumpy ride, he sleeps through most of the journey. Upon arriving at the home, he initially requests to see his mother immediately but must first meet with the director. The director reassures Meursault that sending his mother to the home was a rational decision given his modest salary and her need for care.
The director then leads Meursault to the small, bright mortuary where the coffin rests. When the caretaker offers to unscrew the lid so Meursault can look at his mother, Meursault declines, which creates a momentary sense of social awkwardness. Instead of resting, Meursault decides to stay in the mortuary for a night vigil. The caretaker switches on the glaringly bright electric lights, which strain Meursault's eyes, and offers him coffee. Meursault accepts, and the two men openly smoke cigarettes next to the coffin. Later in the evening, a group of about a dozen of his mother’s elderly friends from the home enter silently to join the vigil. Meursault observes them with a detached intensity, noting their physical infirmities and feeling an uncomfortable impression that they are there to judge him. One woman weeps continuously until the caretaker explains she was his mother's closest friend. Meursault dozes off intermittently until dawn breaks.
The following morning, the funeral takes place under an increasingly oppressive, brutal sun. The director tells Meursault that an elderly resident named Thomas Pérez, who was exceptionally close to his mother, has been granted special permission to walk in the procession. The funeral party—comprising the priest, altar boys, the director, Meursault, a nurse, and the limping Pérez—sets off on a hot, grueling forty-five-minute walk toward the village church. Meursault becomes overwhelmed by the physical sensations of the day, focusing on the blinding sky, his heavy dark clothing, the melting tar on the road, and the smell of leather and incense. He watches Pérez repeatedly fall behind and take shortcuts through the fields to keep pace. Meursault remembers fragments of the burial: the red geraniums, Pérez fainting like a broken doll, and the blood-red earth being shoveled onto the coffin. The narrative concludes with Meursault returning to Algiers by bus, feeling an intense wave of joy at the prospect of finally going to bed and sleeping for twelve hours.