Albert Camus
Biography
Albert Camus was born on 7 or 8 November 1913, in
Mondovi, Algeria. Both dates are listed in various biographies. His parents
were Lucien Camus and Hélèn Sintès. Lucien had been orphaned in Algeria. His
parents had been French immigrants seeking a better life in the colonies.
Lucien was self-educated. When Albert was born, Lucien was working as a
cellerman at a winery.
Unlike Lucien, Hélèn was not
French. Her family had moved to Algeria from the Spanish island of Minorca. She
suffered hearing loss and a speech impediment. Hélèn was illiterate, relying
upon her husband for support.
His father, Lucien, died in 1914,
during World War I's Battle of the Marne. Lucien was a member of the First
Zouave Regiment. War was to remain a constant throughout Camus' life -- and his
literature.
Camus' mother was left to raise her
son alone, in extreme poverty. Widowed and nearly deaf, there was little
possibility of her earning a reasonable income. She moved the family to Rue de
Lyon, in the Belcourt section of Algiers. Belcourt was a crowded, almost
third-world neighbourhood. The family was forced to move to the region so a
grandmother could raise Albert and his older brother. Albert's grandmother was
dying of liver cancer, while an uncle living in the apartment was paralyzed. A
second uncle also lived with the family. Camus' family represented all human
misery and misfortune.
The apartment, near the Arab
Quarter of the city, lacked electricity and plumbing. The
"facilities" consisted of water jugs and "Turkish toilets"
on the balcony. A Turkish toilet is a drain into an open, or minimally covered,
public sewer.
According to Camus' accounts, his
mother was permanently melancholy. To escape this home life, Camus buried
himself in studies and participation in local athletic teams. He distinguished
himself in sports as a leader and competitor. In academics, Camus also
excelled. When Camus entered the local Belcourt schools, an instructor named
Louis Germain noticed young Albert's intellect. The teacher tutored Albert,
helping him pass the lycée entrance exams in 1923. A lycée is an exclusive
secondary school for students destined to university -- as Albert was.
An important step out of poverty,
Camus was accepted into the University of Algiers' school of philosophy. In
1930, his studies were interrupted by severe tuberculosis. The disease took one
of his most important possessions -- his strength. As a result of the disease,
Camus reduced his studies to a part-time pursuit. Albert would attend lectures
at the University of Algiers from 1932 through 1953, never losing his
enthusiasm for learning.
Communism versus Socialism
Between 1931 and 1935, Camus worked in a string of
low-paying jobs, including positions as a police clerk and salesman. He also
had a brief marriage during this period, which ended in divorce. Sadly, Camus
wanted to be a teacher, but could never pass the medical exam due to his
tuberculosis.
While a student at the University,
Camus joined and left the Communist Party. According to biographers, Camus
joined the Communist Party in 1934, primarily as an anti-Fascist. The Spanish
Civil War greatly affected Camus and many others. His stormy relationship with
the Communist Party continued throughout his life. "Marxist-Leninist"
doctrines did not appeal to Camus, even as a student. His real concern was for
the plight of the working class and poor in Algeria and elsewhere.
Marriage added to the complexity of
Camus' life. In 1934 he married Simone Hié, the daughter of a successful
ophthalmologist. Simone was from Algeria's upper-class and her mother -- the
doctor -- supported the newly weds. Unfortunately, Simone was also a drug
addict. Camus' marriage ended when he learned Simone was having sex with a
doctor in exchange for various drugs.
Camus remained a socialist
throughout his life. He founded The Workers' Theatre in 1935. The Workers'
Theatre was intended to present socialist plays to Algiers' working population.
Camus hoped to educate the workers, in accordance with his own beliefs. The
theatre company survived until 1939.
In 1936 the Algerian Communist
Party (PCA) was founded with the explicit goal of independence for Algeria and
a government representing Muslim concerns. In response to the PCA, Camus joined
activities of Le Parti du Peuple Algérien -- a party he considered more
"people" oriented. The PCA soon declared Le Parti to be a Fascist
organization, which it was not. Camus was placed "on trial" by the
Algerian Communist Party and expelled as a "Trotskyist." This
experience resulted in Camus becoming anti-Communist for many years. Hypocrisy
within the International Communist (Workers) Party was exposed by the
Stalin-Laval Pact of 1935, which changed Communist Party goals. Stalin wanted
strong allies to fight fascism. France was suddenly "good" and, after
some "persuasion," the PCA dropped its call for Algerian
independence. Camus was to be forgiven, but he did not forgive.
Between 1937 and 1939, Camus wrote
for the Alger-Republicain, a socialist paper. As a reporter, he
compiled a detailed account of the lives of poor Arabs in Kabyles. Camus later
published a collection of essays on the conditions and ethnic discrimination
faced by the Arabs in Actuelles III. In late 1939 and early 1940,
he edited another socialist paper, the Soir-Republicain. His
editorship lasted only a few short months, as the paper closed in the midst of
tensions between Algiers and France.
Combat and Resistance
The period from 1939 through 1942 presents some
difficulty to trace accurately. Biographers differ on exact events in Camus'
life, so I attempt to present those facts on which there is agreement. It is
important to recognize that World War II created a great deal of confusion.
Camus was a member of a resistance cell, so not all his activities could be
recorded by himself or others.
Camus married again in 1940.
Francine Faure was a mathematics instructor from Oran.
In 1940, Camus left Algiers for
Paris, hoping to establish himself as a reporter in the leftist press.
Unfortunately, the German army invaded France, and Camus returned to North
Africa. Camus remarried in Africa, and found a teaching position in Oran. Camus
was shortly declared a "threat to national security" and
"advised" to leave Algeria in March 1940. The political right's
rising power in both France and Algeria resulted in the mistreatment of many
leftist and pacifists. Camus was a pacifist and wrote openly about avoiding war
in Europe. The invasion of France left a terrible impression upon Camus.
Again, Camus travelled to Paris.
This marked Camus' Exile. Camus arrived shortly before the German army took
Paris and much of northern France. The remnants of the French army were
demoralized and, worse, positioned incorrectly to offer any defence of the
city. Camus find himself feeling isolated, or estranged, from what he thought
was his country. Camus wrote:
Paris is dead.
The danger is everywhere. You go home and wait for the alert signal or
whatever. I get stopped constantly in the street and asked for my ID: charming
atmosphere.
Consider that Camus is a pied-noir.
His skin is tanned by the sun or light brown. His accent might be imperfect.
Whatever the case, to the "powers" governing Paris, Camus is suspect.
What he certainly is not, in their minds, is Parisian. For better or worse,
Camus is in Paris briefly before the entire staff of Paris-Soir,
the newspaper at which he found work, is relocated to the western port city of
Bordeaux to avoid the Nazis.
He travels light, carrying one case
with white shirts, ties, toothbrush, and three incomplete manuscripts. These
manuscripts were "The Absurds" -- as named by Camus. During the year
1940 he produced some of his greatest essays and short stories. In less than a
year, Camus wrote or completed drafts of The Stranger, The
Myth of Sisyphus, and The Plague. In addition to these
works, Camus filled notebooks with his thoughts on philosophy and politics.
The German army soon reached Paris,
forcing Camus and many others to flee for Vichy France. In November 1942 the
Allies landed in North Africa, giving Camus some hope the war might end. Camus
soon travelled to Saint-Etienne, in Central France. During the winter, his
tuberculosis symptoms worsened and his mood sank.
Combat
In October, 1943, Camus joined a clandestine
resistance cell known as "Combat" -- also the name of the
organization's newspaper. "Combat" had been founded in 1942 as an
intelligence and sabotage organization. Considered crude leftists and
terrorists by General de Gaulle, Combat proved itself dedicated to France
during the occupation. As with most operatives, Camus adopted a false identity,
"Beauchard," and carried false papers to travel within occupied
cities. Camus helped smuggle copies of the paper Combat to the
public. Combat was printed in Lyon and distributed in Paris,
carrying news of the war.
Camus became editor of Combat
in 1943, editing the newspaper for four years. His columns and reports often
called upon people to act in accordance with strict moral principals. It was
during this period that Camus formalized his philosophy that human life was
sacred, no matter how inexplicable existence of life might be. The newspaper
moved to Paris in the summer 1944, following the Liberation of Paris. Camus
wrote the first Paris edition editorial.
Paris is
aflame in a hail of bullets on this August night. In this immense setting of
water and stone, all around this river flowing heavily with history, the
barricades of freedom are once again being erected. Once more, justice must be
bought with men's blood. It is unimaginable that men who for four years have fought
in silence and in whole days of bombardments and gunfire will agree to see the
forces of resignation and injustice return in any form whatsoever.
Jean-Paul Sartre
World War II brought Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus
together; politics eventually drove them apart. Even their friendships with
Simone de Beauvoir was not enough to keep the two men united following the rise
of Soviet Communism. Only after Camus' death would Sartre again praise his
former friend.
During the mid-1940s, this trio of
French intellectuals would meet at Café Flore on the Boulevard St. Germain,
known as the "The Left Bank." They shared common beliefs: the
universe is brutally apart from reason, there is no divinity, and that freedom
surmounts a basic despair. Early on Sartre and Camus
embraced solidarity/humanism as the guiding value in life. Later, in part
due to Camus' rejection of Soviet methods, Sartre would state that Camus had
forsaken solidarity as a guiding principal.
Born into poverty, raised by a
widowed nearly deaf mother, Albert Camus was the ideal target of socialist and
existential doctrines. Not that such doctrines are incorrect, but Camus'
perspective was different from that of other French intellectuals. Experiences
produce biases -- and Camus' biases were rooted in poverty and suffering. Camus
was in many ways the man Jean-Paul Sartrewanted to be. While Sartre had a
mildly difficult childhood, he was never wanting for attention or security.
Sartre was drawn to Camus in large part due to this contrast in histories.
Following the war, Camus toured the
United States. Camus found that French Existentialism, as promoted by Sartre,
was widely misunderstood as a philosophy of hopelessness. Camus did hold that
life was absurd -- defying logical explanation, and ultimately irrational.
However, Camus considered life valuable and worth defending. While the American
public thought existentialism was devoid of morality, Camus' experiences in
Algiers and France had led to a strong ethical system.
In 1944, at the age of thirty-one,
Camus was a leading voice of social change. He belonged to no political party
and was fiercely independent. His rejection of Marxism led to attacks from the
Communists in France and other countries. Camus responded by attempting to form
a socialist party of his own. While the political party never matured, it was
clear Camus spoke for many French workers.
Camus' twins, Catherine and Jean
were born.
Camus succumbed to illness in 1949,
a relapse of his tuberculosis accompanied by other difficulties. For two years
he remained in seclusion, writing and publishing political essays. Camus
recovered in 1951, and published The Rebel, a collection of his
thoughts on metaphysical, historical, and artistic rebellion. The book so
angered some of his counterparts that he was ostracized by many French
intellectuals. It was this work that led to Camus' split with Sartre.
The stress of The Rebel's
reception among philosophers and historians led Camus to seek out more relaxing
work. He spent the next few years translating his favourite plays. This work as
a translator led to successful French-language productions of plays by Larivey,
Buzzati, and William Faulkner.
Camus, The Activist
During the 1950s, Camus took on the role of full-time
advocate for human rights. He did this despite his break from the French
intellectual elite, which in some ways left Camus isolated. He found himself
alone, though often writing about the same injustices as Sartre and others.
In his new
solitude Camus would never show more solidarity, giving way to the French
equation/pun solitaire-solidaire, which he would later employ in one of his
short stories. He was active in most of the major causes of his time.
- Introducing Camus; Mairowitz, p. 140
Still disgusted with victory of
Franco in Spain decades earlier, Camus resigned from UNESCO in 1952 when it
admitted Spain into the organization. Camus could not belong to any
organization allowing a Fascist state membership.
In 1953 Camus wrote in support of
East Berlin workers who attempted to strike. While other leftists ignored the
sins of the Soviet satellite states, Camus was shocked when the state used
tanks to end demonstrations. The Communist Party once again proved to Camus
that it was anything but communist or socialist in nature. Wrote Camus of the
events:
When a worker,
somewhere in the world, approaches a tank with his bare fists and cries out
that he's not a slave, what are we if we remain indifferent?
- Introducing Camus; Mairowitz, p. 141
Camus' deep affection for France
was severely tested by events in the 1950s. Dedicated to human rights, Camus
found himself struggling to understand French colonialism -- and its fall. In
July 1953, police opened fire on Muslims protesting in Paris. Many were
wounded, several killed, by French police. Many Muslims in Paris were Algerian,
hoping for a peaceful resolution to colonial control. Most simply wanted, as
did Camus, greater autonomy for their homeland. Events such as the police
shootings only served to isolate the Muslims and give greater power to
radicals.
One of the greatest blows to French
pride was the fall of colonial Asia. In 1954, Vietnamese General Giap's army
defeated French colonial powers in the "Battle of Dien Bien Phu."
After the Vietnamese began to rebel openly, other French colonial holdings
begin to follow in armed rebellion. Camus was torn -- he considered himself
French first, Algerian second… and he saw the colonies as part of a greater
France.
Later, as with many other leftists,
Camus found himself aligned with the "right" when the Soviet Union
began to use force to control its satellite states. In 1956 Camus and others
protested Soviet actions in Hungary.
True to his life-long opposition to
capital punishment, Camus defended the infamous American couple, the
Rosenbergs, not because they were leftists but because of death penalty imposed
by an American court. Camus actually worried that the couple might have spread
nuclear weapons -- a technology Camus found deeply troubling. Commenting upon
the United States' use of nuclear weapons (6 Aug 1945), Camus wrote:
Mechanized
civilization has just reached its highest degree of savagery. There is a
certain indecency in celebrating a discovery which above all serves the
greatest rage for destruction man has known for centuries.
The Vichy Purge
Following World War II, there was a great call for
"justice" throughout most of Europe. In France, the Vichy Purge
followed WWII. During the purge traitors and Vichy leaders were summarily tried
and executed for crimes against the French people.
Camus attended the trial of Marshal
Pétain as both a journalist and out of morbid curiosity. He wanted to know how
such a great man could have aided an enemy of the French people. To the
surprise of many, Pétain was sentenced to death. The World War I hero, now more
than 80 years old, had gone from a French icon to a personification of
treachery. Camus and others were relieved when Pétain was pardoned by
Charles de Gaulle, who wanted unity after the war.
Many of the French people, even
those who had fought in the Resistance, wanted to forget the war. While de
Gaulle had led French troops, he wanted to rebuild France more than he wanted
revenge. As a result, de Gaulle's government did not continue the Vichy Purge
as long or as thoroughly as might be assumed. Once a few major trials and
executions had occurred, de Gaulle properly thought the public would be
satisfied -- and no more French blood would be shed as a result of the war.
Like his fellow Frenchman, Camus
insisted upon justice -- and severe penalties. For the first time in his life,
he wondered if the death penalty was a reasonable punishment. Camus attended
the trial of a particularly treacherous man and admitted that death seemed
almost too good for a traitor. Still, Camus resisted the death penalty and
fought his emotions.
In every
guilty man, there is some innocence. This makes every absolute condemnation
revolting.
Camus, The Journalist
After the war, Camus continued to work at the
newspaper Combat. For Albert Camus, "journalist" was as
prestigious a job description as "novelist" or
"playwright." Camus wrote of the sounds and smells of the press room,
where the words he had written were typeset and printing plates created. He
often spent hours watching the typesetters work with hot lead and the pressmen
adjusting the presses while newspapers were printing. Camus realized that
newspapers were far more influential than most other forms of writing -- thanks
to their larger and loyal audiences.
In 1947, Combat was
taken private, which meant it operated for profit. This change did not
originally affect content; one reason the paper was privatized was its
popularity. Over time, however, the content did shift and editorial policy
moderated. Yet Camus' strong journalistic ideals did not change. He always held
that news must be what people should and need to know, not what they want to
read. Commenting upon the press, in 1957, Camus wrote:
This press,
which we hoped would be proud and dignified, is today the same of this unhappy
country.
Algerian Unrest
The Algerian situation began to deteriorate more
rapidly on 1 November 1954, when members of the Front de Libération Nationale
(FLN) attacked various state assets in Algeria, including military barracks,
police offices, and other symbols of French "occupation." Unlike many
from the intellectual left in France, Camus did not side with the rebels.
Unlike these left-leaning thinkers, Camus was in the unique situation of being
from a colony. He considered self native Algerian. Said Camus, "It's easy
to be anti-colonialist in the bistros of Marseille or Paris."
Camus started writing for l'Express
daily newspaper in 1955. His "beat" included coverage of the Algerian
war. His articles about Algeria were later collected into Actuelles:
Chronique Algérienne.
Who has capsized
all projects of reform for thirty years, if not a parliament elected by the
French? Who has closed its ears to the cries of Arab misery… if not the great
majority of the French press? And who, if not France, with its disgusting good
conscience, has waited until Algeria bleeds to finally realize that she exists?
In February 1956, mass
demonstrations by pied-noirs forced France to respond to the unrest in Algeria.
Reluctantly, 400,000 French soldiers were stationed in Algeria. The FLN attacks
on non-Muslims worsened with the arrival of troops. Unfortunately, yet
predictably, the French responded with torture, mass killings, and a campaign
against Muslim fundamentalists.
A despondent Camus concluded there
was no stopping the violence, at least not between rebels and the French
troops. Camus begged publicly for a "civil" truce in Algeria, asking
both sides to "spare the civilian population" from violence. Taking
his crusade to the people of Algiers, Camus and others organized a 22 January
1956 public debate. Outside the hall, Muslims and the Front Français de
l'Algérie faced off, but without any major incidents. Unbeknownst to him, Camus
guarded by members of FLN. After the debate, one Algerian writer called Camus,
"Le Colonisateur de Bonne Volonté" -- The Well-Meaning Colonialist.
The last essay written by Camus,
"Algérie 1958," supported a "Federation of Peoples"
in Algeria. Under Camus' plan, Muslims and pied-noirs would share power in
government and Algeria would become an autonomous commonwealth. He had also
become convinced that communist were behind much of the unrest. Camus blamed
the Soviet Union, Egypt, and Arab states for encouraging Muslim radicals.
Camus escaped the stress of being a
political leader through a series of affairs. From 1956 until 1959, Camus
translated and directed plays in France. His leading actresses were also his
lovers, Maria Casarès and Catherine Sellers.
Nobel Prize
The Fall was published
in 1956, marking Camus' return to novels. The book was well received, bringing
Camus back into favor in intellectual circles. The following year, Camus was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. While The Fall clearly
attracted attention, the Nobel committee sited Camus' essay Réflexions
Sur la Guillotine as an influential work on behalf of human rights.
When Camus received the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1957, he was the second youngest to ever receive award. While
in Sweden to accept the award, Camus went before students at Stockholm
university. An Arab student accused Camus of not caring about the Arabs in
Algeria. Camus responded, "I have to denounce blind terrorism in the
streets of Algiers, which might one day strike my mother or my family. I
believe in justice, but I'll defend my mother before justice."
His comments shocked the left-wing.
Just as quickly as The Fall had returned him to favour, these
comments isolated Camus again from intellectual circles. Family before justice?
Private concerns greater than the common good? These thoughts ran counter to
traditional socialist doctrine. Camus knew that most people would defend family
above country, but he dared to state publicly that human relationships
superceded political theories.
Privately, Camus had worked to help
Arabs, saving many from the death penalty. He later said that "mother"
in his comments was meant to symbolize Absurd Death -- no more meaningless
death in the name of politics was acceptable to Camus. Still, leftists failed
to understand. The still held to the belief that sometimes revolution must be
violent.
In May 1958, a coup in Algeria, led
by right-wing French, temporarily ended the civil unrest. France promised
self-determination, assuming the conservative victory meant French rule would
continue. Camus planned to campaign against independence... he could never imagine
Algeria apart from France.
Before his death, Camus had planned
another set of three works. His new theme was to be "love." According
to some biographers, Camus also had three lovers in Paris.
It seems almost fitting that Camus
died at the pinnacle of his career as a writer. Camus died in a freak
automobile accident near Sens, France, on 4 January, 1960. Curiously, Camus had
once said there would be no death less meaningful than to die in an automobile
accident. He disliked cars, especially driven at high speeds. He was not
driving when he died. Among his papers was the novel The First Man,
a fictionalized account of his family history. This novel was published in
1995, leading to renewed interest in Camus and his works.
What sets Camus apart from many existentialists
and modern philosophers in general is his acceptance of contradictions. Yes,
Camus wrote, life is absurd and death renders it meaningless -- for the
individual. But mankind and its societies are larger than one person.
Commentaries
Before commenting upon the works of Albert Camus, I
should first make a rather bold statement: I consider him to be an existential
writer. It is fashionable in academic writings to now drop the label from
almost every "existentialist" -- especially since only Sartre seems
to have embraced the label, and then only for a brief time. Certainly it is
possible to debate Camus' status as an existentialist, but one cannot ignore
existential elements in his fiction. Camus preferred to think of himself as an
"absurdist."
As one reads Camus, or any other
writer sometimes called "existential," remember existentialism was
never an organized movement. Existential situations and themes appear in
Dostoevsky’s works, but he certainly was not an existentialist. In large part,
the following commentaries do not focus upon whether or not Camus was an
existentialist... I leave that to the readers and individuals with doctorates
in philosophy. Personally, I think Camus stands far above Sartre as a writer
and nearly equals Kafka. That view is my bias.
Algeria, a Main Character
Albert Camus was decidedly Mediterranean. He loved the
sun, sand, and swimming. As soon as he saw a large city, he realized how
special the small communities of his native Algeria were; he hated dull, modern
cities. Quite simply, Camus was Algerian, no matter how often he proclaimed he
was French. Algeria was one of the most important concepts in most of his works
-- the colonial state was the setting for his major works and served as a
metaphor frequently.
Camus' French Algerian heritage
found its way into his works -- and his politics. His last work, The
First Man, published 35 years after his death, is as much about Algeria
as Camus' own history. In fact, Camus was as loyal to France and Algeria as to
any person or philosophy. Despite its heat, poverty, and social unrest, Camus
loved Algeria. His exile from the colony seemed to only increase his passion
for it.
Algeria is the setting for most of
Camus' works. Its sun is key in The Stranger, The First Man,
and other stories. Even stories meant to be metaphors about France and Nazi
occupation are set in Algeria; The Plague could have been set anywhere,
but Camus chose Algeria. In this sense, Algeria is a "main character"
in Camus' fiction. However, it is the political role of Algeria in Camus' life
that is interesting to students of politics and philosophy.
Biographer David Mairowitz
theorizes that Camus' attitude toward Algeria was shaped by the culture of the
colony. As a boy, Camus was exposed to a system constructed to reinforce the
myth that French colonies were merely the reconstruction of the Roman Empire.
Colonization was not conquest but reunification of a great Empire. Algerians,
it was believed, would eventually merge into a common culture. Camus carried
this belief until his death; he envisioned an Algeria in which Moslem/Christian
and Arab/Gaul divisions ceased to be important. He never understood the deep
distrust and hatred of the Algerians.
France is the
mother country with her kings and châteaux, and young Moslems as well as
pieds-noirs are imbued at school with the idea of a common heritage between the
two countries, learning -- cynically -- about "our ancestors the
Gauls," while being taught virtually nothing of the thirteen centuries of
Algerian history between the Roman and French colonizations.
When, 130
years later, French Algerians are forced to leave, they will not see themselves
as victims of de-colonization, but as having been kicked out of their own
country.
- Introducing Camus; Mairowitz, p. 19
Human rights and equality
preoccupied Camus. His politics were decidedly "left-wing" and
socialism appealed to Camus because it promised to equalize some social
inequities. However, in life Camus was not able to treat Arabs as he did his
French comrades. Even when trying to write sympathetically of the Arabs in
Algeria and the poverty in which they were forced to live, Camus still leaves
the impression that the Arabs need to be "civilized" by the French
culture. It was not that Camus did not try to support and aid the Arab
population, but like many liberals he failed to realize his support was
accompanied by a form of condescension.
The Absurds
In 1940, Albert Camus arrived in Paris where he was to
work as a reporter for the newspaper Paris-Soir. Unfortunately,
the Nazis were not far off, so the newspaper's staff left Paris for
Clermont-Ferrand. The stay in Clermont-Ferrand was brief, as the Nazis moved
onward, and Camus found himself in Bordeaux. During this period Camus, like
many others, was forced to travel lightly -- carrying only essential items in
case it became necessary to flee France entirely. Among his possessions were
three manuscripts, which he called "The Absurds."
The Absurds defined Camus to other
French intellectuals; Sartre considered them Camus' best philosophical works.
The Absurds are the following works:
- Novel: L'Etranger
- Essays: Le Mythe de Sisyphe
- Play: Caligula
For Camus, the absurd was not
negative, not a synonym for "ridiculous," but the true state of
existence. Accepting the view that life is absurd is to embrace a
"realistic" view of life: the absence of universal logic. This
approach to philosophy is more radical than Nietzsche's "God is
dead." One might rephrase Camus' absurdism as "God? No thanks… I'm on
my own."
Many mistakenly believe Camus saw
no meaning in life; even Camus and Nietzsche seek "meaning" in life,
but not in manners familiar to most. For Camus, meaning was in the human
experience. Absurdity does not render life meaningless -- people have meaning
because they interact with each other, while remaining in control of their own
destinies.
The Stranger (l'Étranger,
Written 1938, Published 1942; 1946 English)
The first of "The Absurds" written by Albert
Camus, The Stranger defines Camus for most Americans. The novel is
simple, with none of the diversions common in popular literature. The main
character is not a hero, has no "true" love affair, and the pursuit
of money and power never enters into the story. The Stranger is an
honest atheist, willing to accept his life as it happens.
The Title
Camus' title, l'Étranger, has been
translated poorly, in my opinion. The U.S. title, The Stranger,
implies the main character, Meursault, has been viewed as a "strange"
or "odd" person for some time. The other possible meaning is that no
one knows him; Mersault is a stranger even to those who think they know him.
These definitions do not seem adequate. The U.K. title, The Outsider,
only serves to confuse readers more.
Meursault is the archetype of a
middle-class man. He works as a clerk, rents an apartment, and draws no
attention to himself. He is, if anything, ordinary. Meursault might even be
boring. He lacks deep convictions and passion. If he is estranged from any
aspect of French society, it is religion -- he does not believe in the symbols
and rituals of faith.
Is the main character estranged?
"Cela m'est égal" Meursault views life as one might a movie. No
matter what occurs, "It's all the same to me." He is not a stranger,
but rather an observer without an emotional connection to the world.
Along with the title, Camus took
care in naming the main character. Meursault's name is symbolic of the
Mediterranean. Mer means "sea" and Soliel is French for
"sun." The sea and sun meet at the beach, where Meursault's fateful
act occurs.
Structure
Analysis of the novel should begin by recognizing the
story's basic structure. There are three deaths which mark the beginning,
middle, and end of the story. First, Meursault's mother dies. This death occurs
before the narration starts, but marks the start of Meursault's downfall. In
the middle of the tale we have the death of an Arab. The defining events in The
Stranger are set in motion by Meursault's apparent murder of the Arab.
One day, walking toward a cool stream, Meursault is blocked by an Arab. It
seems the Arab draws a knife, as Meursault sees a flash of light from the
blade. Meursault then kills the Arab, believing this to be an act of
self-defence. At the end of the novel, Meursault is executed.
Readers should note an Arab is
killed. Arabs were traditionally the targets of racism in Algiers. The
"more French" one was, the more important the individual. The culture
and religion of Arabs were deemed simple and barbaric. This explains why it was
more upsetting to the court that Meursault was not respectful of their societal
norms... killing an Arab was a minor offense. Not seeking Christian forgiveness
or mourning properly for his mother are far worse crimes. The surface structure
of the novel leads many to assume the act of manslaughter is Meursault's
prevailing crime; it is not.
Meursault
Meursault is an anti-hero, according to some scholars.
His only redeeming quality is his honesty, no matter how absurd. In existential
terms, he is "authentic" to himself. Meursault does not believe in
God, but he cannot lie because he is true to himself. This inability to falsify
empathy condemns him to death. While Meursault allegedly executed for killing
an Arab, he is hated for not expressing deep emotion when his mother dies.
Meursault has faith in nothing except that which he experiences and senses. He
is not a philosopher, a theologian, or a thinker. Meursault exists as he is,
not trying to be anything more than himself.
Meursault, the
novel's hero, a "stranger" to the system of Christian morality
insofar as he cannot comprehend it, is certainly not an "outsider,"
neither consciously choosing to remain outside society nor being rejected by
it. On the contrary, Meursault is the perfect model of a young
lower-middle-class pied-noir, with an ordinary desk job, and with the
ordinary insider's simple taste for watching a banal film, having a
drink at the local bar, going to the beach, lying in the sun. He is very much inside
the French Algerian colonial scene, living the most ordinary of lives, not at
all a social reject an in no way a rebel... at least not yet.
- Introducing Camus; Mairowitz, p. 43
Why did Camus' readers recognize
Meursault as a plausible character? After two World Wars and other sufferings,
many people came to (or tried to) live life much as Meursault does. They lost the
will to do more than exist. There was no hope and no desire. The only goal for
many people was survival. Even then, the survival seemed empty. We learn how
empty Meursault's existence is through his relationships. He is not close to
his mother; we learn he does not cry at her funeral. He does not seem close to
his mistress, Marie Cardona. Of his lover, Meursault states, "To me, she
was only Marie." There is no passion in Meursault's words.
Mother's
Death: Event 1
In America, unlike most European countries, employment
lacks security. Taking personal leave seems risky to many individuals.
Therefore, Americans might relate differently to Meursault's embarrassment when
he must request leave from work to address his mother's death. European readers
have indicated to me a different understanding of Meursault's embarrassment:
death is simply disquieting.
Upon arrival at the seniors' home
where is mother resided, Meursault learns the administrators arranged for a
religious service. He is told that his mother requested such a service.
Curiously, Meursault doubts this assertion, but does not say so. The
caretaker then asks if Meursault wants to view his mother's corpse. Meursault
declines to have casket opened. The caretaker asks why, clearly shocked that a son
would not want to say a proper goodbye to his mother.
Instead of being depressed and
mournful, Meursault drinks coffee and smokes in a relaxed manner. This leaves
the impression that Meursault is insensitive, or that he did not love his
mother. Meursault's calm exterior during these formalities later plays a role
in his conviction and sentencing for murder. Meursault accepts life and death
without seeking a deeper meaning.
Interestingly, an old man from the
senior home attends the burial of Meursault's mother. The man is referred to as
her fiancé by others. I do not know if the man was her romantic interest. If he
was, then a reader might conclude Meursault was not close to his mother and
representations of him as distant are accurate.
Sex without
Love
Almost a tangent within the story, Meursault
encounters Marie Cardona on his way to the beach for a swim. There is no
indication of a close relationship between the two, but they are acquaintances.
As neither has plans, they spend the afternoon and night together. They go to
the beach, as Meursault had planned, then to a theatre to watch a film. Later,
they have sex; they do not make love -- it lacks the emotional depth expected
in a romance.
When Marie suggests marriage, which
seems without context, Meursault responds with a "whatever" of sorts.
He admits he probably does not love her. He places no value on marriage.
Meursault's character is established as cold and disconnected. While on trial,
as the prosecutor refers to Marie as his mistress, Meursault's narration
declares, "To me, she was only Marie."
Killing an
Arab: Event 2
Meursault encounters Raymond Sintés, his neighbour,
and a local thug (pimp), within their building. Raymond Invites Meursault and
Marie to the beach, where a friend owns a house. Raymond also asks Meursault to
write a letter to a "girlfriend" with whom Raymond is known to fight.
An astute reader might conclude the young lady works as a prostitute controlled
by Raymond.
When Meursault, Marie, Raymond, and
Raymond's friends approach the local bus stop, several Arabs are at the stop --
including the brother of Raymond's "girlfriend." There is a general
unease and distrust between the groups. Arabs are considered a lower class of
citizen than the French Algerians. Raymond, despite his nature, occupied a
higher place in society than the Arabs.
Once at the beach, the group
encounters the Arabs again. This would be unusual, since Algerian beaches were
segregated by social status. A fight between the groups ensues. Raymond is cut
with a knife and the French return to the beach house. Readers might wonder why
the French Algerians would return after the fight, but it was considered
important to keep the Arabs aware of their position. The French minority
oppressed the Arabs through intimidation.
Here, Camus
makes use of a real incident in his life, which marked him enough to reproduce
it as one of the key scenes in l'Étranger. On the strand at
Bouisseville near Oran, where the beaches were segregated by mutual unspoken
consent, one of Camus' friends had a run-in with a group of Arabs, which
eventually involved a knife, a cut, a revolver, but no one dead. Camus himself
was involved in this macho scene, although not in the fight itself.
- Introducing Camus; Mairowitz, p. 51
Bandaged, Raymond returns to the
beach with Meursault. Raymond carries a gun, intent on revenge. While walking,
Meursault calms his companion and takes the gun. The incident seems over, as
Meursault's personality indicates a certain calm and logic. Yet, Meursault
continues to walk, returning to location of the Arabs.
The light shot
off the steel [knife] and it was like a gleaming blade slashing at my forehead.
It seemed as if the sky opened up from end to end to rain down fire.
Meursault does not kill in cold
blood, though his motivation for returning to the beach can be questioned. The
sun reflects off the Arab's knife and Meursault shoots. Why did he shoot four
times? As narrator, he does not describe himself in immediate danger. Could it
have been fear? He does not explain his actions.
Algerian race relations must be
understood as they relate to The Stranger. Killing an armed Arab
was not senseless, but rather an act of superiority. Without witnesses,
Meursault could create any tale he wished and be found innocent of murder.
Instead, he accepts what he has done without feigned remorse. The French cannot
have a citizen admit he killed an Arab for little or no reason.
Trial and
Execution: Event 3
Meursault is arrested and charged with murder.
Curiously, he does not choose a lawyer and one is appointed to him by the
court. Within existentialism, choice is an important concept. Meursault's
willingness to accept an appointed defender illustrates that he sees no defence
for his actions.
When his lawyer suggests Meursault
should argue that he was upset by his mother's death and in a state of shock,
Meursault refuses to embrace the lie. Meursault clings to the truth as he has
experienced it, not as society wishes it.
During an examination by a court
magistrate, Meursault is asked if he believes in God. He responds honestly,
stating that he does not. the magistrate is stunned by this.
All men
believe in God! Do you want my life to be void of meaning?
The case against Meursault proceeds
without his input; he is an observer from the dock. He watches as his character
is insulted and the facts of the murder misinterpreted. Yet, he does not
protest to save his life. Meursault seems to want his life terminated. The
truth, that a flash of sunlight reflecting off a knife resulted in a quick
reaction, is considered absurd by court observers. Also, Meursault admitted to
the investigator that he fired more than once.
Knowing that Camus opposed the
death penalty, there are several questions regarding the execution of
Meursault. Was the execution a comment upon society? Was it a rejection of
someone lacking the same morals as his society? Or was the execution a form of
suicide?
In the end, Meursualt is fascinated
by guillotine, as was Camus. He details its workings in journalistic
fashion.
His meeting with the prison priest
allows Meursault to again assert his lack of faith before he is executed.
The Myth of Sisyphus (Le
Mythe de Sisyphe, 1942)
The collection of stories published as The Myth
of Sisyphus in 1942 was the second of The Absurds. The work has been
cited by critics as refined and carefully crafted. The collection stands as
more literature than philosophy. Camus spent at least five years writing and
editing the work. The polish is clear with the first sentence:
"There is
only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."
According to Camus, suicide was a
sign that one lacked the strength to face "nothing." Life is an
adventure without final meaning, but still worth experiencing. Since there is
nothing else, life should be lived to its fullest and derive meaning from human
existence. For Camus, people were what gave life meaning. However, in the
moments following the realization that one will, one's descendants will die...
in fact, earth will die, one senses a deep anxiety. And, as an atheist, Camus
doubted meaning beyond this life.
"A world
which can be explained, even through bad reasoning, is a familiar one. On the
other hand, in a world suddenly devoid of illusion and light, man feels like a
stranger."
Isolated from any logic, without an
easy explanation for why one exists, there is what some call "existential
angst." While Camus did not use the phrase, it adequately describes the
sensation. Even existentialists of faith struggle with creation, wondering why
humanity exists when a Creator would not need mankind. Merely wanting to create
something seems like a curious reason to create life. So, even for those of
faith, the initial creation is puzzling.
How does one exist without any
given purpose or meaning? How does one develop meaning? The Myth of
Sisyphus addresses this directly in the retelling of the famous tale.
Considering the plight of Sisyphus, condemned to roll a stone up a mountain
knowing the stone will roll down yet again, it is easy to declare his existence
absurd and without hope. It would be easy to believe Sisyphus might prefer
death... but in Camus' myth, he does not.
"Living
the absurd… means a total lack of hope (which is not the same as despair), a
permanent reflection (which is not the same as renunciation), and a conscious
dissatisfaction (which is not the same as juvenile anxiety)."
For Camus, Sisyphus is the ultimate
absurd hero. He was sentenced for the crime of loving life too much; he defied
the gods and fought death. The gods thought they found a perfect form of
torture for Sisyphus. He would constantly hope for success, that the stone
would remain at the top of the mountain. This, the gods thought, would forever
frustrate him.
Yet, defying the gods yet again,
Sisyphus is without hope. He abandons any illusion that he might succeed at the
assigned task. Once he does this, Camus considers him a hero. Sisyphus begins
to view his ability to do the task again and again -- to endure the punishment
-- a form of victory.
"The
struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. We have to
imagine Sisyphus happy."
Caligula
(Performed 1945)
The third of The Absurds, the play Caligula
was presented in 1945. Based on the life of Emperor Caius Caligula, 38 A.D.,
the play presented a challenge for the audience as well as critics. Was Camus'
Caligula an absurd hero, anti-hero, or a villain? Camus' main characters
realize that men live and die without reason; Caligula, was in the unique
position to kill others with seeming impunity.
Caligula: A
tyrant is a man who sacrifices people to his ideal or his ambition. But I have
no ideals and I already have all the power I want.
Knowing life has no meaning, yet
traumatized by the death of his sister, Caligula starts to enjoy acting without
logic. If the gods have no logic, and Caesar is a god, then he can do as he
wishes to exact revenge on the absurd universe. Caligula offers some
explanation to his mistress, Caesonia, as he strangles her.
Caligula: This
is happiness: this intolerable release, this universal contempt, blood, hatred
all around me, the unique isolation of the man who all his life knows the
boundless joy of the unpunished killer... this ruthless logic that crushes
human lives.
- altered based upon two translations
Because Caligula is assassinated at
the end of the play, as in history, some have wondered if this was the Caesar's
goal. Too unstable to commit suicide, does Camus' character force others to
kill him?