Important points of Michel's story are his recovery from tuberculosis; his attraction to a series of Algerian boys and to his estate caretaker's son; and the evolution of a new perspective on life and society.

By the age of twenty he was fluent in French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic.

He entered academia around this time, when he wrote the "Essay on Phrygian Religious Customs".

Shortly after leaving El Djem, Michel becomes very ill. His illness was diagnosed as tuberculosis and it was unlikely he would survive.

Michel slowly recovers under his wife's constant care and with a new found zeal for life after becoming sexually involved with some of the local children.

Although initially uninterested, Michel takes great interest in Charles' company and gentle nature.

As soon as Marceline is well enough to travel, Michel moves her to La Morinière after she insists she would rather return to Normandy than go to the mountains.

Michel grows bored, despite his wife's still fragile nature, and he decides to leave the Alps for Italy.

Ménalque claims to live for the present and states that he loathes material possessions.

Although hypocritical, Ménalque is tired of society and those who blindly follow societal customs.

In his book Culture and Imperialism, Edward Saïd cites The Immoralist as a literary text that reflects the complex relations between the citizens of colonial France and of French Algeria.

Proponents of Africanism and Orientalism view the peoples and the cultures of Africa and Asia respectively through a Eurocentric lens.

The play had a Broadway theatre production at the Royale Theatre in New York City, New York, from February to May 1954; it was directed by Daniel Mann and starred James Dean, Louis Jourdan and Geraldine Page.