Meursault receives a telegram informing him of his mother death at an old age home in Marengo. He asks his employer for two days off and catches an afternoon bus, feeling slightly annoyed by his boss reaction and his own unnecessary apology. Upon arriving at Marengo, he walks the two kilometres to the retirement home and waits to see the director. The director reassures Meursault regarding his decision to place his mother in the home, explaining that she had friends there and that her son could not afford to keep her or spend all his time caring for her. Meursault agrees, noting that his mother used to follow him with her eyes in silence when they lived together.
The director leads Meursault to the small morgue where his mother body rests in a sealed casket. Meursault declines the concierge offer to unscrew the coffin lid so he can view her face. Instead, he sits with the concierge, who chatters about his background and life in Paris while two hornets buzz against the glass roof. Meursault feels sleepy and shares a cigarette with the concierge in the fading light. Later that evening, the director arranges for a tray of coffee and more chairs as the residents of the home arrive to keep the vigil, filing silently into the bright white room.
The elderly mourners sit around the coffin in the glaring white light, looking like ancient statues with dull glows for eyes. One elderly woman begins to cry regularly and persistently, grieving a close friendship with the deceased, while the other residents sit motionless or make strange clicking sounds inside their mouths. Meursault feels awkward and fatigued, his lower back aching as the long night slowly wears on. Eventually, the morning light breaks through the glass ceiling, and the exhausted residents wake up. After washing up and enjoying a cup of coffee, Meursault steps outside into the fresh morning air, feeling the pleasant warmth of the rising sun.
The funeral proceedings begin as the director, the priest, and the undertakers prepare for the procession to the village church. Meursault joins the small group, alongside an elderly friend of his mother named Thomas Perez who struggles to keep pace. Under the intense, blinding glare of the midday sun, the group marches toward the village as the heat becomes almost unbearable and the asphalt begins to melt. Perez repeatedly takes shortcuts across the fields to catch up with the procession, weeping with exhaustion and grief. After the church service and the burial, during which Perez breaks down completely, Meursault finally boards the evening bus back to Algiers, feeling immense relief and looking forward to twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.