Albert Camus: Biography 1913-1960 The Stranger Albert Camus: Biography 1913-1960 Kevin McFarland Shreena Patel Abigail Peng Brianna Steele Katie Ten Haken Cindy Tran

Time Period and Important Events The Stranger was published in 1942 Algeria, where the book took place, was a colony of France Not obeying French law was punishable by death French were above all else During this time, World War II was coming to an end Fascist movement in France still evident in society France was a political hot spot Nazi Germany occupation Resulting power struggle Algerian People’s Party founded Internal fighting among the French people because of the Algerian conflict Cafe Wars: Assassinations and bombing directed at political parties that supported the growing Algerian rising French existentialism began to rise in the literary world

Childhood Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria in 1913 to Catherine and Lucien Camus. He had an older brother named Lucien. His father worked as a cellarman and his mother was a cleaning woman. He lived with his father for only 8 months until the outbreak of World War I. His father went to war and was wounded severely in the Battle of Marne and later died of his wounds in 1914. His mother, who was impoverished and deaf, was left to raise him alone. However, the mother and her two sons moved in with Camus’ maternal grandmother who ruled the family under a domineering hand. The family lived in a small three-bedroom apartment, on the Rue de Lyon in the working class suburb of Belcourt in Algiers. The house had no electricity or running water, and the bathroom was shared with two other apartments on the block.

Childhood Continued... In 1923 Camus went to school. He was a bright and eager student, which his teacher Louis Germain noticed. Camus’s family wanted him to follow in his older brother’s footsteps - leave school as quickly as possible, get a job, and bring in some much needed income. However, Germain convinced Camus’s grandmother that with a secondary education Camus could get a better paying job. Germain helped Camus seek a scholarship and he was awarded one in June of 1924, thus enabling him to continue on to high school. At school, Camus was never ashamed of his poverty but wanted to share it because he wanted to, not because he had to. This strictly need-to-know attitude to personal information was carried by Camus his whole life.

Continued... Camus loved swimming and playing football but he also enjoyed reading Gide and Malraux in his spare time. These two authors would have a lasting impression on him. In 1930, he was forced to leave school because of a bout with tuberculosis. However, he returned back to school healthy and received his diploma from the University of Algiers’ school of philosophy in 1936.

Influences From His Childhood His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. His parents were semi-proletarian (wage labour-force that is not wholly dependent on the wage for economic subsistence) and thus were attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies and had a deep interest in philosophy. The death of his father in the war lead to Camus being against violence throughout his career, a pacifist of sorts. Read the works of Gide and Malraux, influenced by them.

Education Camus was an excellent student Attended elementary at the local Ecole Communale encounter series of teacher-mentors He was tutored by Louis Germain at a local school In 1923, he passed the lycée entrance exam and with a scholarship attended high school at Grand Lycee Vivid reader, learned Latin and English, and developed interest in literature, art, theatre, and film Got accepted into University of Algiers school of philosophy had to leave because of tuberculosis Continue his education in 1930 and worked odd jobs to help pay for school He received his graduate degree in philosophy in 1936

Adult Life personal life- he was married and divorced twice throughout his life he was married to Simone Hie, the daughter of a wealthy ophthalmologist from 1934 to 1936 married his second time after he had returned to North Africa to Francine Faure, a math instructor. he was “advised” to leave Algeria in March of 1940 after being declared a “threat to national security” due to his open opposition to the war in Europe in 1944 Camus’ wife gave birth to twins, Catherine and Jean

Adult Life One of the most major writers in the 20th century Went to France when he was 25 years old Camus became a very influential person through his philosophical views and works of literature French intellectual responding to the rise of European fascism, mid 1930’s he turned his interest and joined the French Communist party left after two years also joined the Algerian People’s party “champion of individual rights”, he opposed French colonization his Pied-Noir Algerian background affected his views and actions while in France. journalist for Alger-Republican (anti-colonist newspaper) 1943 Nazi occupied Paris, joined the resistance and wrote for the resistance journal, COMBAT, which he worked for till 1947

Adult Life strictly against any form of totalitarianism was a critic and condemned the Americans use of the atomic bomb outspoken critic of the communist theory In 1944 Camus founded the “French Committee for the European Federation” he declared that Europe “can only evolve along the path of economic progress, democracy and peace if the nation states become a federation” From March 22-25, 1945- the first conference of the European Federalist Movement was organized in which Camus was a participant of. In 1947 he founded the Revolutionary Union Movement (Groupes de liaison internationale) this was a trade union movement of the revolutionary syndicalism (a group whose aim was to express the positives of the surrealism)

Accomplishments In 1937, he published his first book, collection of his essays called L'Envers et L'endroit 1935-1939 Camus along with his group founded the Théâtre de l'Equipe, or the Workers' Theatre wrote collective play called Révolte dans les Asturies (first experience of writing for theatre) 1942, wrote The Stranger and The Myth of Sysiphysus both consisting of the element of absurdism 1944, Cross Purpose and Caligula 1947, The Plague about the absurdity of social and cultural orthodoxies

Accomplishment cont. 1951, publish L'Homme Révolté (The Rebel) after recover from tuberculosis in 1949 difference between revolution and revolt 1956, The Fall, which was his last completed major work 1957, The Exile and the Kingdom, a collection of short fiction 1957, won the Nobel Prize for Literature

Death albert died on January 4th 1960 he was killed in a car accident along with his publisher Michel Gallimard he was originally supposed to travel with his family by the train although last minute he unexpectedly accepted Michael's offer to drive

Death the sudden death of such a famous writer brought much speculation to the matter later a theory emerged that his death was no accident it was thought that there was soviet involvement and that Albert was a hit performed by the KGB due to his disrespect shown towards the Soviet Union however this accusation was dismissed being seen as not credible by Olivier Todd and all suspicions were later forgotten

Life’s Influence on Work Camus’s personal life impacted The Stranger and can be mostly seen in his protagonist, Meursault. Meursault suffered and was affected by the death of his mother, which is influenced by the death of Lucien Camus, father of Albert Camus. The protagonist is always bothered by a constant inner turmoil, just as Camus was. Camus was living in a difficult world of inequality, poverty, and unfairness caused mostly by war. Meursault speaks in Camus’s questioning and despair of life and how he felt about it.

Life’s Influence on Work Cont. The setting of the novel and the place where Camus moved after his father passed away are the same place. The setting of the novel was directly affected by the ethnic tensions that Camus witnessed in the city.

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Close Read Create a thesis agreeing or disagreeing with whether Camus creates an unbiased stance on political and cultural life in The Stranger, or whether through Meursalt’s emotionless state, his opinions on law are conveyed even stronger Why do you think Camus made his character so detached, such a far cry from his own involvement in political matters? Do you believe making Meursalt into a character more reflecting Camus’s actions would have lost the desired effect the author was striving for (continuation of above question) 41-42

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