Cultural Influences In Albert Camus Work

Albert Camus’ work was clearly influenced by his culture and background. For instance, he uses events such as the black plague to influence The Plague. Camus is best known for writing The Plague, and The Stranger, two of his first novels. He was born on November 7, 1913 in Mondovi, a city in Algeria (Kellman). Camus’ father died in World War I before Camus was one year old (Kellman). This influenced both The Plague and The Stranger in the fact that neither of the two main characters mentioned having a father, however there were mentions of both having mothers (Camus, The Plague 13) (Camus, The Stranger 3). Ordinarily, if there were to be a mention of one parent, there would be a mention of the counterpart. Camus’ mother, Catherine, had a stroke

“I said that I didn’t believe in God. He wanted to know if I was sure and I said that I didn’t see any reason to ask myself that question: it seemed unimportant. … ‘Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?’” (The Stranger 116-117) The priest that was assigned to talk with the condemned tries to make Meursault repent for his sins. Later, Meursault lashes out and has to be pulled off of the priest by the prison guards. In The Plague, the Jesuit priest, Father Paneloux, began reaching out in the time of despair to the sinners to repent. He eventually comes to the conclusion that the good people of the town do not need to worry, for only the evildoers will be affected(Camus, The Plague 84-91). “‘Calamity has come upon you, my brethren, and, my brethren, you deserve it.’ … ‘The first time this scourge appears in history, it was wielded to strike down the enemies of god. Pharaoh set himself up against the divine will, and the plague beat him to his knees.’” At one point in Camus’ life, he was a high priest of a cult, the new cult of the posthumous God (Kellman). He became uncomfortable with the situation and eventually left the cult