Daru/Camus' neutrality

I think we can see the same deliberate neutrality in Daru as we've been talking about with regards to Camus' position on the Algerian War, justice etc. Daru tells the gendarme that "tout ca me degoute, et ton gars le premier. Mais je ne le liverai pas. Me battre, oui, s'il le faut. Mais pas ca." This seems to define what we know was Camus' opinion - like Daru, he loathed killing (as represented by the Arab, who murdered his cousin), but also like Daru's refusal to hand the Arab over to the prison, Camus didn't take a 'side' in the Algerian War. Daru seems willing to fight, but he implies that he only would under duress (earlier he insists that he won't take orders until war is declared). Daru's decision to let the Arab choose a path reflects the deliberation of Camus' position - it is not passive, as it would be if the Arab had run away because Daru didn't lock the schoolhouse door, but an active decision to wash his hands of a binary choice.

L'hote

I thought it was particularly interesting how Daru seems to insist that the Arab is presented with a hospitable environment, while Balducci seems much less forthcoming: "Il resservit du thé à Balducci, hésita, puis servit à nouveau L'Arabe..." (87). As the story continues and Dura is left alone with the Arab, the sentence structure becomes more complex, and I thought that this could represent the growing complexity of the guest/host relationship. Throughout the story, Daru is accommodating, asking if "Tu as faim?" (91), and tells the Arab "N'aie pas peur. C'est moi. Il faut manger" (95-96). His role as the doting host continues to the end, as he offers a man he is told is a criminal the choice of freedom or imprisonment; does the fact that this offer eventually ends poorly for Daru signify that there is a danger in being the "perfect" host?

L'etat

I hope that I read this correctly otherwise this is going to be a completely irrelevant and useless comment.

When I was reading L'etat de siege, I noticed that the character of 'la peste' is also sometimes referred to as 'l'homme'. If you check the 'distribution' at the beginning of the play, I think that this is correct because there isn't a character listed as 'l'homme'. As 'l'homme' translates as man or mankind, it is interesting that Camus decides to parallel mankind with la peste in such an obvious fashion. Camus clearly suggests that man is its own downfall and this would have been particularly pertinent at the time as an allegory about totalitarianism, Franco etc. As others have previously commented, L'etat de siege is much more obvious in the points it makes, especially with the strong binary opposition of good/evil and I think the way in which Camus equates 'la peste' and 'l'homme' together is an important part of this.

La Chute & honesty

I really enjoyed La Chute, both in the content and the style in which it was written. I liked the focus on one character in depth as opposed to works like L'Etat where it seems like you get a more shallow overview of a character's mindset - by reading everything from Clamence's point of view you can look not only at what he says but how he chooses to say it, as well as Camus's potential influence/autobiographical tone as Gareth mentioned, which I think is quite interesting. I especially liked the sort of issues Camus/Clamence was bringing up (is charity selfish? etc.) which were quite different from some of the more repetitive themes he addresses.

As Catherine was saying, I think I could really relate to the honesty and complexity of the character, the conflicts when Clamence was accepting how he wanted others to see him/to appear, and the rationale behind his actions in actuality, the difficulty in doing this etc. It was also nice to have a character who considered his morality as opposed to many of Camus's other characters who don't seem to do that (e.g. Martha) to the same extent, and where the reader is encouraged to make their own judgements rather than hear the character's. I liked the honesty of Clamence and the blunt tone at times, in lines such as (p55) "Je vivais donc sans autre continuite que celle, au jour le jour, du moi-moi-moi. Au jour le jour les femmes, au jour le jour la vertu ou le vice, au jour le jour, comme les chiens, mais tous les jours, moi-meme, solide au poste." I also thought a lot of the language (as in the above sentence, for example), was beautifully written and quite poetic, as in some of the more sensual passages in Noces (my favourite!). It felt this gave the language a sort of rhythm and pace that made La Chute quite compelling.

L'Etat de Siege - The Comet & Diego and Victoria

I found L'Etat very interesting to read as it does seem so different to most of the other Camus we have read, in terms of his writing style. I also agree with everyone that in La Peste he seems to get his point across a lot more clearly and less invasively. L'Etat seems to make the same points again and again and doesn't really seem to progress in the way that La Peste does, in terms of the audience arriving at various realisations or moments of reflection.

I found two things a bit bizarre and couldn't really get my head round them! One was the comet. I found La Peste so chilling because it all seemed so realistic and brutal - the moment when they are all discussing what to call 'La Peste' and how to deal with the public comes to mind as being particularly realistic and uncomfortable. However, while I can see why the use of a comet as a sort of omen/symbol makes sense, it seemed a bit silly (for want of a better word!). It opened the text with a sort of weird sci-fi/mystical tone which then distanced it from the realities of the town in a way that La Peste didn't. Obviously it signifies many things for different readers etc. but for me it just seemed a bit incongruent and distracting...

Also I found the relationship between Diego and Victoria a bit puzzling, mostly because at times I thought their dialogue was so cliched and saccharine that it seemed a bit sarcastic, for example p34 D "Que tu es belle!" V "Que tu es fort!" D "Avec quoi laves-tu ce visage pour le rendre aussi blanc que l'amande?" V "Je le lave avec l'eau claire, l'amour y ajoute sa grace!"... etc. I wasn't sure what Camus was trying to say with the couple...is he satirising other writers or is it more then nature of young lovers/new relationships which then seem to sour later..? The other relationships we have studied (not necessarily romantic) always seem so disfunctional compared to Diego and Victoria, but I don't believe the point of them is to show the "perfect" relationship... Also even if it was, this all seems a bit at odds with Camus's larger point about the government/law etc. I'm not sure why it has a place in the text but sure I must be missing something...?!

Religious imagery in La Chute

I thought one of the most interesting elements of La Chute was the abundance of Christian religious imagery, which have been relatively scarce in Camus until this point. As well as the obvious allegory between Clamence's life and the fall of man, and the comparison between Amsterdam and the circles of hell (which is, admittedly, more Dante than the Bible), Clamence uses religious language and examples both thoughtfully and casually. One that particularly struck me came early on in the novel, when Clamence says that he felt like "fils de roi, ou buisson ardent". The "son of the king" could be a reference to Jesus, while the "burning bush" is a significant Old Testament image. It's found in Exodus 3 - an angel of God appears to him in a bush that burns but is not consumed, and from there God tells him that he will lead God's chosen people out of Egypt to the promised land. The description of the bush comes in verses 2 and 3, which are:

2 here the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

In verse 6, it says that " Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God." By comparing himself to the burning bush, Clamence is essentially calling himself God, which fits in with the idea of him being the "juge-penitent".

La Chute & L'Etat de Siege

I’m also a fan of La Chute, by placing the reader in the position of Clamence’s companion Camus engages the reader, you are made to work, to formulate the questions that he is answering and to fill in the gaps in the narrative. I am interested in Clamence’s role as a “judge-penitent”, the seemingly contradictory role that he describes himself as holding. I understand this in opposition to the role that he played in his previous life in Paris; a lawyer who was “soustrait au jugement comme a la sanction” (shielded equally away from judgment as from penalty). Having found a comfortable niche between those judging and those being punished in Paris, in Amsterdam he embodies both rather than neither. He seems to be paying a price for his earlier lifestyle whilst also drawing others into the realisation that their lives may not be as innocent as they believe.

Camus’ comment on the reasoning for killing in the name of justice in L’Etat de Siege interested me. Diego states that he knows the old arguments that “To do away with murder we must kill, and to prevent injustice we must do violence.” (Apologies for the English quote – I know I’m a terrible person.) Diego’s questioning of capital punishment and of general killing and violence in the name of justice reflects Camus’ understanding that a re-examination of society’s moral values was necessary. Despite his brief backing for capital punishment after the end of the Second World War, Camus believed that life was ultimately more important than the idea of justice that could be used as the ends to justify violent means.

La Chute et L'Etat de Siege

David Carroll, in speaking about La Chute, picks up on the possibly semi-autobiographical nature of the novel. He says that Camus, by the time he had written La Chute had lost his authority as a dissenting political force, and recognised himself as having fallen. It might be interesting to perhaps tease out which parts of Jean-Baptiste's character we can see in Camus, and the extent to which we think that the novel may be autobiographical. It might also be interesting to look at the way in which Camus adopts the form of Notes from Underground to his own novel, the reasons for using this form, and his manipulation of it.

The allegory in l’Etat de Siege is so clear and two-dimensional that one often finds oneself wondering whether it might have just been more effective (or less cheesy at least) if Camus had cast off the allegorical naming of characters, a technique which detracts from artistic value and seems an insult to our intellect as discerning readers/viewers. Surely a great work of literature is multilateral and leaves space for deeper interpretation? L'Etat de Siege fails on this basic level, and seems comparatively anaemic. What surprises me about L’Etat de Siege is (and maybe this could be something to discuss) how morally reducible it is. From an author capable of a text as (arguably) morally irreducible as L’Etranger, L’Etat de Siege just seems silly and one dimensional. The idea of ‘complete good vs. complete evil’ is an idea I thought Camus would have disagreed with, given his Nietzschean influence, and given his opinions on the death penalty, (where he makes a point of condemning it from the perspective that there is always some humanity in an ‘evil’ act - another idea which is distinctly Nietzschean). Maybe I’m not sure what Camus is trying to get at. Pretty much the whole of mainland Europe knew about the dangers of totalitarianism, from Franco, to Mussolini, to Stalin, to Hitler, so why does Camus tell his audience what they already know, and in such black and white terms...?

p.s. If I can find that quote from David Carroll I'll add it onto this post as a comment.

La Chute

I like La Chute (is that worrying?!) I think it’s a really strong text, and seems to pack in a lot of Camus’s favourite things! I also think it’s quite difficult not to make psychological judgements about Clamence (even though I know it’s not necessary because what’s in the text functions on its own). I think it’s definitely an interesting portrayal of someone for whom reality hasn’t lived up to expectations or ideals. More pertinent still is that when the chance arises, Clamence doesn’t live up to his expectations either (particularly when he finds himself carrying on walking, knowing that the woman on the bridge has just thrown herself off) and is disillusioned by that. He admits that he takes life seriously (“je continuais seulement de jouer mon rôle, aussi bien que je pouvais” (92-3)) but is tormented by the idea that he won’t be able “d’accomplir ma tâche”. I like the tension between the pleasure he can find in his almost mystical sense of his own morality, and those moments when it lets him down. I think it’s inevitable that we try to examine the ‘psychology’ of the character; I don’t think we’d want to go on reading about Clamence if we couldn't feel any speck of empathy towards any part of what he's saying.

L'Etat

I also think that La Peste is overall more effective than L’Etat. I think that L’Etat seems quite chaotic at times; I think it would work very well theatrically, as a dramatic piece, but it doesn’t allow for the exploration of human reactions and devastation in the way that the novel does. I like a lot of the powerful exchanges, though, especially one towards the end (171-2 in my edition) between Diego and La Peste. It seems La Peste is testing Diego’s resolve; he asks him to choose between his own life and the freedom of the city, attempting to implicate him in a battle of the individual and the collective. He tells Diego: “On ne peut pas être heureux sans faire du mal aux autres. C’est la justice de cette terre.” But Diego comes back with, “Je ne suis pas né pour consentir à cette justice-là.” When La Peste later mocks the lowliness and “mi-hauteur” of Diego’s people, Diego replies: “C’est à mi-hauteur que je tiens à eux. Et si je ne suis pas fidèle à la pauvre vérité que je partage avec eux, comment le serais-je à ce que j’ai de plus grand et de plus solitaire?” (174). He believes that the ‘small’, humble solidarity of the hardworking individuals that La Peste so scorns will, as a collective, defeat the supposed strength of a totalitarian philosophy, which will be weakened by its disregard for the individual.

L'Etat and La Chute

(This blogging business alarms me. Do not understand).

First off with L'Etat, when reading it I just had Nick's comment in my head of "It's a bit 1984-esque" and it really is, which I found interesting in terms of looking at a totalitarian regime and the lengths to which a people can be controlled. The resonance of "2+2=5" and "nothing is happening, nothing will happen" is striking but on the whole I agree that La Peste is more enjoyable in that the characters can more easily be related to. Whilst the events in the two works are similar the approach in la Peste causes you to be far more involved, and thus more interested in the outcome.


La Chute was thuoght-provoking. You cannot help but think whether when you donate to charity or (not that I have done this) help a blind man across the road, are you doing it solely to benefit the person or to fuel your own sense of self-satisfaction and alleviate any guilt you may harbour? The answer is probably a little of both but it is uncomfortably perceptive and so perhaps not as easy to read as La Peste.

La Chute and style

I found La Chute more difficult to read because of the first person narrative and the narrator's very specific way of speaking quite densely and formally, especially due to his use of the imperfect subjunctive. The way in which he speaks brings to mind Martha from Le Malentendu, and her old-fashioned way of speaking. Camus draws attention to this, Clamence stating that: 'Ah! je vois que vous bronchez sur cet imparfait du subjonctif. J'avoue ma faiblesse pour ce mode, et pour le beau langage, en général' (p.11 in my edition). As this is a literary verb form, it adds formality to what he is saying but, as he is supposed to be speaking, it adds emphasis to the fact that there is something not quite right about Clamence and I feel strains the conversation, as it retains formality. This perhaps fits in with the distance that Camus creates between the reader and Clamence and Clamence's own inability to form close relationships.

L'Etat

I found L'Etat much less effective in terms of concepts than La Peste. Yes, the parallels to dictatorship, for example that of Franco, are more obvious by making the plague a person, but it loses the sublety of the novel. One begins to read everyone as a symbol of something rather than a character. Nada is nothing, the secretary becomes bureacracy and the way in which the play ends, with love conquering the plague is rendered obvious and saccharine. I think that the play isn't meant to be realistic in the way that the novel is, but by losing this grounding in a fixed reality, it becomes harder to empathise with characters and appreciate them as anything other than signifiers of Camus' ideology.

La Chute - laughter

Jean-Baptiste is haunted by laughter - he usually perceives it as directed at him. At one point he says, "J'ai un
beau rire franc, ma poignee de main est energique, ce sont la des atouts" (apologies for lack of accents!) - "I have a good hearty laugh, my handshake is energetic, these are trump cards." I think, then, that laughter is an indication of hypocrisy, since it can be used as a 'trump card' to convince others of one's strength, and because it is heard at moments that remind Jean-Baptiste of his failure to live up to his reputation in the case of the woman on the bridge. It's quite a depressing symbol, since Jean-Baptiste comes to question laughter even when it is innocent - a mark of pleasure becomes one of cynicism.

L'Etat and La Peste

Personally, I found La Peste much more interesting than L'Etat de Siege. With La Peste, I felt much more engaged with the characters, particularly Rieux. I think I learnt more about Camus and his philosophy from La Peste. The actions of the characters clearly demonstrated his views on how people do and should act in a state of threat and fear, which I thought was an intriguing use of the idea of the plague, whereas L'Etat never moved beyond a fairly obvious condemnation of tyranny. While the allegory in La Peste was fairly clear, it was even more obvious and at times bordered on the clumsy in L'Etat, although Camus may have been making a political statement by having the plague as such an obvious metaphor for a tyrannical leader.

I was thinking about the way that L'Etat is set in Spain - given that his native country had its own history of totalitarianism to draw from, it's interesting that Camus wrote another play in another country to extend his point. I had a bit of a dig on the internet and there's some comments here from his daughter, who thinks that the setting of Spain proves that he was not a 'neutral' man, that it shows his true engagement with his beliefs. The interview is mainly about Le Premier Homme, so could be useful for our study of that later on too.

Ok it won't let me paste! Here's the URL: www.spikemagazine.com/0397camu.php

La Peste at the end of the first act

I found the portrayal of la peste at the end of the first act of the play particularly interesting; it was quite unsettling to remember when reading the dialogue that it is a "plague" who is speaking to the audience, and not someone with a human name. I also thought the religious and omnipotent language that la peste uses to close the first act made me feel uneasy, as he explains that "Moi, je règne, c'est un fait", and "Mon ministère est commencé".

Welcome

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