November 7, 1913-January 4, 1960
Albert Camus was a French novelist, essayist and playwright. He was born on November 7, 1913 in a small Algerian city of Mondovi to Lucien and Catherine Camus. Albert Camus had a quite difficult childhood. He was raised in a poor family and suffered two big losses with his father dying in World War I and his mother suffering a stroke which left her disabled. Tough conditions which Camus had to go through in his youth taught him to value independence and personal responsibility. Camus did very well in grammar school and developed a profound interest in philosophy and literature in the prestigious school Grand Lycée of Algiers. Before his move to Nazi occupied France in 1942 where he joined the French Resistance, he worked as a journalist in Algiers and became involved with a theatrical troupe there, first as an actor and then as a playwright and director. In 1938 he temporarily joined Algerian Communist Party, but he soon lost his belief in communism which later greatly influenced his political opinions. (Campion, p.1) In 1957 Albert Camus was granted a Nobel prize for Literature at the age of 43. (Royal, p.26) He died in a car accident on January 4th, 1960. (Leroux, p.204) Before his death, Camus wrote numerous works that still fascinate readers around the world. Major works of his such as The Stranger, 1946; The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942; The Plague 1947; and The Rebel, 1951 were published in the 40s and 50s, during the outbreaks of Nazism, Stalinism and colonial exploitation which had a very important context in Camus’s works. The Stranger is a first-person narrative in which the main character, Meursault, an Algerian office worker, is alienated from society. Raymond, a close friend of Meursault is a pimp. Meursault kills an Arab who has been following Raymond and although Meursault is obviously guilty, he never receives a fair trial due to corrupt lawyer and the judge. This novel ridicules flaws of French judicial system and legal injustices committed by the Nazis in occupied France. (Campion, p.1) The Myth of Sisyphus is based on Greek mythology where Sisyphus was punished for eternity to push a large rock to the top of a mountain and every time he reached the summit, his rock would roll back into the valley. Camus imagined that Sisyphus was being punished because he had rebelled against the power of the gods and despite his absurd task, he would never give up and repeat his task repeatedly. Many readers see Sisyphus as a metaphor of the French Resistance against Nazis which Camus was a part of. (Campion, p.1) His novel The Plague is considered the most profound reflection on the evils of Nazism. Novel takes place in the walled Algerian city of Oran where the plague suddenly breaks out and the city is closed to prevent the plague from spreading to other cities. It is clear that the plague in this novel symbolizes Nazism and the closed walls of the city symbolize the closed borders of the countries occupied by Nazis. (Campion, p.1) Another work by Camus that worth being mentioned is The Rebel. The Rebel ranges widely over culture, politics and society and exposing evils of communists and fascists. In The Rebel he also criticized totalitarian regime and “crimes of logic” which were encouraged to be committed by Western intellectuals. (Royal, p.28) Albert Camus’s value of personal integrity and independence along with historical circumstances during his time such as Nazi occupation of France and French colonial rule in Algeria made him provide a deep insight on totalitarianism, colonial exploitation and political abuse. Camus’s ethical and political beliefs that he expressed throughout his works still inspire his readers to this day.
Valerii Kolesnikov
Works Cited
Adams, Harry Baker. “Dialogue between Theology and Modern Humanists: The Contribution of Albert Camus.” Encounter, vol. 26, no. 4, 1965, pp. 434-444. EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000704312&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Campion, Edmund J. “Albert Camus.” Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, January. EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88801288&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Leroux, Georges. “Between Sunshine and Shadow: The Legacy of Albert Camus.” Queen’s Quarterly, no. 2, 2010, EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.233126326&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Royal, Robert. “Camus between God and Nothing: Robert Royal Reflects on the Enduring Significance of Albert Camus One Hundred Years After His Birth.” First Things, vol. 239, Jan. 2014, pp. 25-30. EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001972658&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Zaretsky, Robert. “The Tragic Nostalgia of Albert Camus.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, no. 3, 2013, p. 55. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3167/hrrh.2013.390305.
Other Relevant Reading
Curzon-Hobson, Aidan. “Extending the Contribution of Albert Camus to Educational Thought: An Analysis of the Rebel.” Educational Philosophy & Theory, vol. 46, no. 10, Sept. 2014, pp. 1098-1110. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00131857.2013.795111.
Camus, Albert. The Rebel. 1951
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. 1942
Camus, Albert. The Plague. 1947
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus.1942
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