Existentialism,The Fall, Camus Essay, Research Paper

Existentialism: Objective vs. Subjective

Most philosophers, like Greece s Plato have claimed that the highest ethical good is universal. They believed in objective values or pre-determined moral codes. The Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard reacted against this tradition, claiming that the individual’s highest good is to find his or her own purpose in life. In terms of moral choice, philosophers like Kierkegaard have argued that there is no objective or rational basis for decisions; they stress the importance of individualism in deciding questions of morality and truth. They also argued that life’s most important questions are not accessible to reason or science. According to philosophers like Kierkegaard, man is nothing else but his own conscious existence. So it is up to the individual to choose what his or her meaning of life is. All of these ideas are considered subjective. They take place within one s own consciousness, unaffected by outside or material forces. On the contrary, objective principles are actual ideals such as Christianity. The religion establishes the moral codes and deciphers right vs. wrong rather than the individual. This distinction between subjective and objective values is the basis of the philosophical movement called existentialism. This movement which was originated by Soren Kierkegaard and advocated by several other well-known philosophers such as Jean Paul Sarte, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Albert Camus challenges traditional notions of human existence. It encompasses freedom of choice, through which each human being creates his or her own nature. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued that they must accept the risk and responsibility of their actions. In the novel The Fall, by Albert Camus, Camus uses his Main Character, Jean-Baptiste Clamence to reveal many existentialist ideas, primarily the clash of objective and subjective values.

According to John F. Kavanaugh the title of this monologue-novel refers to the fall of a Man or its narrator Jean-Baptiste Clamence. Through his elongated confession, he explains how he was once a prominent Parisian lawyer who defended the poor and the victimized. Kavanaugh illustrates how Clamence enjoyed the pleasure of knowing that he was on the right side. He was attractive, an excellent dancer, a marvelous conversationalist, a generous and courteous man. He was a supporter of the bourgeois society; and everything told him that the happiness he enjoyed was permissible by some higher decree. (Camus 29):

Indeed, good manners provided me with delights. If I had the luck,

Certain mornings, to give up my seat in the bus or subway to someone

who obviously deserved it, to pick up some object an old lady had

dropped and returned it to her with a smile I knew will, or merely to

forfeit my taxi to someone in a greater hurry than I, it was a red-letter day.

I even rejoiced (Camus 21)

At this point in his life Clamence cherishes not only his own life but also others or at least he thinks he does. Eventually Clamence confesses, I have never been able to believe the fact human affairs were serious matters. I had no idea where seriousness might lie, except that it was not at all this I saw around me which seemed to me merely an

amusing game, or tiresome. (Camus 87-88) Through his fall Clamence discovers himself. He discovers that man has been put on this earth without a true God. He believes that there is no God, no truth, and while not believing in any higher being Clamence can only declare himself independently.

One night as Clamence was returning home from a visit with one of his many mistresses, he crossed a bridge and passed a slim young lady dressed in black. She was leaning over a bridge railing staring into the river. After he had gone by about fifty yards he heard a sound of a body striking the water (Camus 70). He stopped and listened. He heard a cry repeated numerous times which gradually drifted father away down the river. He stood still, petrified by the women s plead for an escape.

I wanted to run and yet didn t stir. I was trembling, I believe from

cold and shock. I told myself that I had to be quick and I felt an

irresistible weakness steal over me. I have forgotten what I thought

then. Too late, too far or something of the sort. I was still

listening as I stood motionless. Then, slowly under the rain, I went

away. I informed no one. (Camus 70)

After walking away, he was never able to forget the suicide he might have prevented. This memory was the beginning of this notorious lawyer s fall. From this time on, Clamence began to see within himself the arrogance and the hollowness that he possessed. He began to realize that his former good deeds had been done only for the sake of popular approval. He could not remember any moral or courteous acts that he had performed when there were no witnesses present to applaud his actions. Over come by the emptiness of his existence, he decided to protect himself against the artificial fulfillment he once acquired. One day, while aboard a ship, he saw a black speck on the ocean, which reminded him of a drowning person. At this point he recognized that he could not escape the cry, which had sounded over that bridge many years before. He had to admit to a guilt that would await him ubiquitously. Aware of the fact that human s have an essential deceptiveness in behavior and the fact that the keenest of human torments is to be judged without a law (Camus 117), Meaning that no punishment by law could amount to the pain he has felt. Clamence devoted himself to the role of judge penitent. From then on he made the fraudulence he had discovered within himself endurable by persuading his listeners that they too were guilty of the same astonishing and appalling acts. Solely by judging himself he could escape the judgment of others, and he could only explain this discovery to others through his own confession:

Covered with ashes, tearing my hair, my face scored by clawing, but

with piercing eyes, I stand before all humanity recapitulating my shames

with-out losing sight of the effect I am producing, and saying: I was the

lowest of the low. Then imperceptibly I pass from the I to the we.

When I get to This is what we are, the trick has been played and I can

tell them off. I am like them, to be sure. The more I accuse myself, the

more I have a right to judge you. Even better, I provoke you into

judging yourself, and this relieves me of that much of the burden.

(Camus 140)

As Clamence continues his confession, he tells many significant short stories about his own experiences and those of others. He explains how he has no more friends and nothing but accomplices. How I know I have no friends? It s very easy: I discovered it the day I thought of killing myself to play a trick on them, to punish them in a way. But punish whom? Some would be surprised, and no one would feel punished (Camus 54) Clamence ponders why people commit suicide. His own experience helps him understand, but why? Why would one take their own life? To seek revenge on someone? You ll pay for this! a daughter said to her father who had prevented her from marrying a too well groomed suitor. And she killed herself. But the father paid for nothing. He loved fly-casting. Three Sundays later he went back to the river- to forget, as he said. He was right; he forgot. (Camus 75) People always think one commits suicide for a reason. You think you are dying to punish your wife and actually you are freeing her. (Camus 75) This idea of suicide is a subjective value. It is the decision of the individual if they wish to die intentionally. On the contrary, the objective value would be one of which is pre-disposed. Christianity having predetermined moral codes, opposes suicide.

Clamence s state of mind questions the values of Christianity. Believe me, religions are on the wrong track the moment they moralize and fulminate commandments. God is not needed to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men suffice, aided by ourselves. (Camus 110) This is a perfect example of subjective vs. objective. Clamence is stating the fact that religion, being an objective value challenges subjective values or the values within one s self. By prearranged commandments or moral codes, the individual is restrained from pursuing his or her own beliefs. Clamence holds Jesus responsible for human evil. He believes that God sent his only son to reveal a way to conquer the evil manifested in the murder of the innocents by the son s death.

Did he really know them? He was at the source, after all; he must

have heard of a certain Slaughter of the Innocents. The children of

Judea massacred while his parents were taking him to a safe place-why

did they die if no because of him? Those blood-spattered soldiers,

those infants cut in two filled him with horror. But given the man he

was, I am sure he could not forget them. (Camus 112)

Clamence also believes that some Christians abuse their religion. Too many people now climb on the cross merely to be seen from a greater distance. (Camus 114) Clamence argues that some Christians use their religion to simply improve their image.

Throughout Jean-Baptiste Clamence s confession he exposes various existentialist ideas, the main being the conflict between subjective and objective ideas. His stories and theories show these ideas and those of a true existentialist. All of which pertain to the author, Albert Camus. The narrator and the main character, Clamence, is essentially Albert Camus. Camus, being a true existentialist, uses Clamence to reflect his own life and his own ideas, above all, the clash between subjective and objective values. The women who plunged of the bridge, the daughter who committed suicide to get back at her father, and the challenge of Christianity are all prime examples of how subjective and objective values conflict.