The Fall by Albert Camus - Essay Example

The Fall The fall is a book that written in the 1950s about a man called Jean Baptist Clemence’s life in Paris and later in Amsterdam. It is a narrative told by the protagonist of the story about his fall from grace and his subsequent efforts at redeeming himself from his prior life of hypocrisy and selfishness. The book explores the themes of redemption, self gratification and personal growth and offers a critical view of the protagonist’s views and experiences during the Second World War. This essay sets out to take an analytical survey at the character’s attempt at reinventing himself. Jean Baptist was a lawyer, who had built a reputation for himself as being a good defense lawyer, who helped the less fortunate fight for justice where they could not afford to hire the services of one. He used to give alms to beggars on the streets and offer his aid to blind people cross the streets. His good charitable deeds made him feel different from other people who he saw as being hypocritical and selfish. His kindly deeds fed his ego and made him feel righteous. One day when he was heading home, he came across a woman on the Pont de Art Bridge standing on the ledge staring down at the water. He did not pause to afford even the woman a glance, but just passed her, and after a few paces, he heard a loud scream and the sound of a body splashing the water down below. Jean Baptist did nothing to help the woman who was swept away screaming for help. The incident of the woman who committed suicide on the Pont de Art Bridge marked the turning point of Jean Baptist’s life. One day as he was walking over the bridge, he heard laughter from a group of men standing nearby which he thought was directed at him in ridicule because he failed to save the woman who committed suicide on the bridge. He tried to convince himself that they were not laughing at him, but he could not purge the thought of failing the woman. He attempted to redeem his shortcomings, by increasing his charitable work, but the more he did this, the greater the feeling of self loathing increased. On closer examination, he saw that for instance when he helped a beggar cross the street, he always saluted the blind person by removing his hat; he wondered why he did that yet the person he was saluting could not see? He came to the realization it was a form of show off to the passersby. At this moment, he realized that he was a far much worse hypocrite and selfish than those he criticized among his peers and government. He tried convincing himself that he failed to rescue the woman because rescuing her, involved risking his own personal safety, so it was better off that he did not help her so that he could continue helping others. No matter how hard he tried to justify his actions on that day, his conscience did not allow him to feel better about himself. Jeans Baptist Clemence’s realization that he was no different from leaders, in government and his peers, triggered the process of trying to justify himself by denouncing the exact principles that he stood by and jeopardized his career, in the process. No one believed his utterances because according to his reputation and how people knew him, he could only have been joking. He said, “I wish I could wring the beggar’s necks and beat them up in the streets” (Horton 48). Jean Baptist proclaimed that the poor and the oppressed were oppressing the decent working class of people, and wished they could be banished from the streets. People around him and his friends who knew him well and understood him well thought he was just making fun. This got Jean Baptist frustrated and he started avoiding his friends and immersing himself into alcohol. He stopped practicing law and ruined his reputation. The World War started during, his dramatic turn around, and France was occupied by the German forces. He endeavors to believe that he is a reputable man, but he finds himself in a society that is full of forgeries (Horton 35). Horton relates this to Jean Baptist’s situation because Camus mentions that Clemence came to get hold of the painting while he was, in Amsterdam, where he found it hung on the wall behind the counter of the bar called Mexico City. The church where the painting was stolen replaced all the paintings in the panel and the whole altar piece for fear of theft. According to Horton, this amounts to selling a lie because the church did not make it known that the altar and paintings on display were actually copies of the original. So people continued appreciating and marveling at something that was not. This justifies Jean Baptist’s claims of hypocrisy even in the church. Horton wonders whether the genuine truth can be accepted in a world that is full of fraud and forgery (Horton 36). Jean Baptist fled to Amsterdam via North Africa where he settled in Algiers the capital city of Algeria. While there, he was captured by the Germans, an action he saw as a security measure for their own protection. While in captivity, he met a man, who used to be a Catholic faithful, but had since lost his faith. They held long talks with his comrade, in jail, where Jean Baptist proclaimed that the Pope should be replaced, and suggested that he should be made the Pope. It came as a surprise to him when everyone else agreed. In retrospect, this heightened his perception of being a hypocrite because he could have nominated some else, but he ended up putting himself up for the position. He subconsciously coveted the position because it gave him some power over other prison mates, in the prison, even if he did take his Papacy position seriously. When he arrived in Amsterdam, he likened the city’s design to that of the inner circles of hell. The bar where he frequently went to was called the Mexico City and was located at the center of the town; the inner most ring of the circle. The city of Amsterdam is used as a source of imagery because its location is below sea level. This show the fall from a pedestal position in the Parisian society to the center of the inner most ring of hell; Magic City bar and its neighborhood. In his description, Jean Baptist alludes, to portray the inhabitants of this part of town, him being included, as the worst type of people who have fallen from grace before the eyes of his idea of a perfect society. This area harbors the Red light district of Amsterdam. This area is associated with all the vices in society. Thus, Jean Clemence’s association with the area shows the level that he has fallen into (Dery 2). Jean Baptist habitual visits to the Mexico City bar sees him make an acquaintance with a fellow lawyer from Paris, who he offers to help interpret to the bar tender, who only speaks Dutch of, which his new found friend cannot comprehend. Clemence describes the bartender as a monolingual ignorant brute, who is selfish and self centered because he does not bother to learn the language of his most frequent customers (Horton 79). It is in these meetings at the bar that Clemence launches himself into his monologue about his life; he does not permit to be interjected by his audience and does not bother to learn their story, he is only interested in the part he is involved. He rejects the ideas of people being innocent. He argues that all people are guilty of something one way or the other. He repaginates the notion that there can be true justice unless all hypocrisy is done away with, of which he is not sure it can be done. When he sees the painting of the ‘Just Judges’ hang on the wall of the bar, he tells the bartender the truth about the painting and insinuates that he could help him keep it for him to save him from the police since it was a stolen artifact. This was a show of selfishness even though it was veiled as an act of good deed; saving the bar keep from troubles with the police. It goes with Jean Clemence’s notion that nobody is innocent because even when they are doing a good deed it is usually accompanied with a subconscious motive of gaining something in return; it is a rare occurrence to find a person who does charitable deeds with no strings attached. In this case, Jean Clemence knew the value of the painting and wanted it for himself. The theft of the painting symbolizes the erosion of the justice system, which Jean had worked so hard to defend, and his source of revulsion for the system he diligently served faithfully. When he realizes the truth, he can no longer live with the lies hence his decision to quit his job. When he acquired the painting from the bartender, Clemence went on to explain the meaning of the painting elaborating the role of the ‘Just Judges’ or ‘Judges with Integrity’ (Horton 40). Jean Baptist took the role of a judge and started judging people based on their character, profession and beliefs. He argued that the act of existing was a form of selfishness in humans and that waking up in the morning alive was in its own right, a superhuman achievement. The location of the Jewish quarter in Amsterdam was located near where the Mexico City bar was situated, and it is used, in the book, as a metaphor. During the Second World War, Jews were persecuted by Third Reich and this form of injustice and others is addressed in the book by the protagonist of the story residing in this area. Jean’s refusal to fight for his country, in the war, illustrates his belief that the war was just another form of a greedy struggle for power and world dominance. In Jean Baptist Clemence’s story of how he was a good lawyer and a good man, we get to see a man who trusts himself, but gets a change of heart or thought. He attempted to redeem himself but the more he tried the more his revulsion for his beliefs grew. This ended up destroying his career and reputation. In Amsterdam, he lived in the most insidious environs and; compared to what he was used to, but he never got free his thoughts of the guilt he felt about his past life. In conclusion, Jean Baptist’s life is seen as one of battling with innocence and the injustices of life. His struggle, with guilt, for his actions makes him seek another life, away from home, where he gets more exposed to extreme circumstances of what he termed as cases of forgery, in the society. The philosophy that Albert Camus tries to carry through using his main protagonist, Jean Baptist is one of a perfect world where the truth is readily availed to those who seek it. It would be a world where injustices would be addressed without the thought of what one would gain in return. The situation in post-war Europe is shown when the injustices of war are dealt with but according to Jean Clemence’s view, it was a flawed process full of bias. The theme that comes out strongly is the one of innocence and hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is thriving in all sectors of our society up to the heist leadership of our religious institutions. Being honest about our intentions would be an excellent way of shunning hypocrisy and living a guilt free life. Hypocrisy brings about selfishness because those in power would have the final say on the degree of innocence of an individual. This would in turn cause a miscarriage of justice to its subjects since justice would be meted out according to an individuals’ preference or favor. Embracing negotiations and reconciliation rather than war would make this world a better place now and for the future generations. The existence of just judges could cease being a forgery, and become a reality that is significant in people’s lives. Work Cited. Horton S. Camus- The-Fall. Retrieved from: http://harpers.org/blog/2009/08/casmus-the-fall. August 8, 2009, 10:18.Web. Dec 10, 2012. Dery J. Book Review: The Fall by Albert Camus.http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review- the-fall-by-albert/page-2/. April 21, 2012. Web. Dec 10, 2012. Otten T. After Innocence: Visions of the Fall in Modern Literature. University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1982. Print. Read More