| Albert Camus was born November 7, 1913, and reared in Algeria, a country exposed to the blistering African sun and the plain of the Mediterranean sea. These rootsthe sun and the seahave spread into all of Camus' writingsthe novels, the plays, and the essays. They are a part of his lyricism, his symbolism, and his values. The universe, it seems from his early Noces, was mother, father, and lover for the young Camus, and from the first, Camus was aware of the paradoxical aspects of his natural world. The sensual free pleasure of swimming and hiking was in continuous contrast to the bare stony earth that made living a matter of poverty and destitution. He was early aware of the absurd condition of man's being totally alone in a resplendent universe. This concept is Camus' equivalent "In the beginning...." Against its truth, all of his writings sound revolt, for he refused to be deceived by social religions or individual submissions that ignored or defied the irreducible truth that man alone is responsible for himself, his meaning, and his measure. Camus' writings are a testament to a continuing belief in man's exiled but noble condition. |
| Lucien Camus, Albert's father, was killed in 1914 during World War I's Battle of the Marne and the year-old child was reared by his deaf mother. She had little money and was apparently a rather joyless and boring companion for her son. It is little wonder that he spent much of his time with athletics, studies, and necessary part-time employment. When he finished school, a university degree seemed the most important challenge available to a poverty-stricken student. Like Dr. Rieux, the narrator of |
|
