Rebels Against the Gods

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	• The Stranger Albert Camus Vintage, 1954 average customer review:based on 1 review
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Rebels Against the Gods

Albert Camus finished his first novel, "The Stranger", when he could not leave Paris during its first year of occupation by the German army in 1940-41. This was France's darkest hour, especially when right-wing collaborators betrayed many other French citizens to the evil Gestapo.

Hitler and his Nazi hordes seemed poised to rule all of Europe, plunging it into a new dark age. How could anyone cope with living in a world like this? It seemed impossible for decent people to believe in anything at all.

"The Stranger", an allegory, does not directly address this crisis. Camus instead tells of a man in Algeria, the narrator, who appears to care nothing about anyone or anything. He tells us of his indifference or boredom to nearly every situation.

The tale begins, for example, when his mother dies alone in a retirement home; he seems only annoyed that going to her funeral ceremony has disrupted his weekend. Later, when his mistress asks him if he loves her, he comments that "it really does not matter if I love you or not, does it?" He observes a lonely old man frequently beating his only companion, a scrawny dog, and reacts to this pathetic situation only by wondering why they put up with each other. Why doesn't the miserable old man get rid of the dog? Why doesn't the dog run away? Why do they need each other so much?

His only real pleasure, going to the sunny beach, is disrupted one weekend by a fight arising out of a misunderstanding with two Arabs. This somehow leads to his killing one of the two with a knife in apparent self-defense and his arrest for murder. The tale moves rapidly through more and more misunderstandings and absurdities before, during, and after his court trial.

I should not, of course, tell how the plot is resolved but urge you to find out for yourself. Anyhow, what's really important in "The Stranger" is how he finally becomes aware and how to cope with his aimless life and with the suffering surrounding him but simply did not know how to cope with these absurdities.

At the end, he finally finds peace of mind. He says he has learned to welcome the cold indifference of the universe. The stars do not care one way or another how he thinks or acts, so he is free...free at last...to do what he chooses.

At this time Camus's publisher also released his famous essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus". He tells how the gods had punished Sisyphus, a titan, for having defied them by bringing fire to humans. He is forced every day to push a huge rock up a steep hill, knowing in advance that just before he comes to the top, it will plunge back downhill. Yet, he does not despair. The gods have not defeated him; he is not a dumb animal but is fully aware of the absurdity of his plight. At the end of each day, he is consoled with these thoughts as he walks downhill. Camus tells us that "we must imagine Sisyphus happy". Yes...happy!!

"The Stranger" and "The Myth of Sisyphus" brought relief from despair for many French and other Europeans. They learned that they were at least free to think what they liked. The gods could not take that away from them. They were free to hope and, whenever they chose, to act. We, too, can rebel against the gods anytime we choose.

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