DEATH AND CRIME IN THE NOVELS OF ALBERT CAMUS Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Hazebrouck, Mirene Paule, 1945- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 00:09:42 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289623 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. 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If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR I t- I I 77-29,339 HAZEBROUCK, Mirene Paule, 1945- DEATH AND CRIME IN THE NOVELS OF ALBERT CAMUS. The University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1977 Literature, Romance Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 @ 1977 MIRENE PAULE HAZELBROUCK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEATH AND CRIME IN THE NOVELS OF ALBERT CAMUS by Mirene Paule Hazebrouck A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 7 Copyright 1977 Mirene Paule Hazebrouck THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Mirene Paule Hazebrouck entitled Death and Crime in the Novels of Albert Camus be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy W\w-/i^s" li, i. Dissertation Co-Director Date (OMM Dissertation Direc As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read this dissertation and agree that it may be presented for final defense. ac r/'v. ^ • j-wDiJr^4> "»V XerKv, \L. i | M T l f I l. Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense thereof at the final oral examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: ez- ACKNOWLE DGEMEN TS I wish to express my gratitude to all who have been with me during the preparation of this dissertation. I am most grateful to my directors, Dr. Edouard Morot-Sir, whose intellectual vitality has been a constant source of inspira­ tion throughout the years that I have known him; and Dr. Charles Rosenberg, for his continued support and encourage­ ment. I am also grateful to the other members of my com­ mittee, Dr. Frank Chambers and Dr. Inga Kohn, for their kind assistance in the preparation of this study. As I terminate this dissertation, I cannot help but extend warm thoughts to the person who first introduced me to Albert Camus and existentialist philosophy, Marcella Shanley. I am also very grateful to my family for their generous support: my mother, Pauline; my brothers, Claude and Marc; my godmother, Eglantine; and last, but not least, my grandmother, Marie Vanvooren. Nor will I forget the precious and continuous encouragement given me by many good friends. I extend deep appreciation to them for their sincere friendship. Warm thanks and affection go to Ernest Stark, Richard Carroll, Virginia Laughlin, Jerry Malizia, Mike Mack, Martha Leake, iii iv Mary Busalacchi, Tanya Lown, Cathy Paul Godard, and Madeleine Brelle. And special thanks to Ken. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. LA MORT HEUREUSE 6 III. L'ETRANGER 55 IV, PARALLEL THEME DEVELOPMENT IN THE ESSAY AND THE THEATRE (1935-1942) 110 V. LA PESTE 129 VI. "LA PENSEE DE MINUIT"—PARALLEL THEME DEVELOPMENT IN THE ESSAY AND THE THEATRE (1943-1951) 172 VII. THE PERIOD OF LA CHUTE AND L'EXIL ET LE ROYAUME 202 VIII, CONCLUSION 269 LIST OF REFERENCES 2 77 V ABSTRACT The theme of death and crime is consistently pre­ dominant in the works of Albert Camus from the beginning of his literary career. In each of his novels, not only is a crime committed, but it also appears as the central act of the work. Camus' originality as regards his concern for the problem of man's mortality and criminality, how­ ever, does not reside in a consciousness of death which subsequently leads him to a set of guidelines for human conduct. Rather, he observes that there exists a relation between death and crime and that this relation constitutes a fundamental characteristic of man's nature and of the human condition. The purpose of this thematic study is (1) to trace, through structural analysis, the theme of death and crime in the novels of Camus and to examine the relation that exists between man's consciousness of the fact of death and his criminality, (2) to determine whether or not there is evolution of his ideas on death and crime as revealed in these works as well as in some of his essays and plays, (3) to determine the nature of that thematic evolution, and (4) to explore crime as a human act on both a literal and a symbolic level. vi vii My tracing of the theme follows the chronological order of Camus' works, and the divisions of this study correspond to the three periods which constitute Camus• literary career. The first is that of La Mort heureuse and L'Etranger and the works written between 1935 and 1942. During this period, Camus was conscious of crime as an act committed by men searching for happiness. The thematic structure death-crime-happiness dominates these works. Yet the theme of death is subordinate to that of crime. Man passes from a state of primitive innocence and animality to a state of criminality and ,humanity. As a result of this process, he has become conscious of his criminality and mortality and, at the same time, he feels innocent of his crime. The second period of La Peste and L'Homme r6volt£, covering 1943 to 1951, is that of crime as violence, criminal acts which man commits against his fellow man in the name of man's future happiness. The criminals in these works have a strong sense of their culpability and are unwillingly guilty. They carry within them the microbes of the plague, a potential for violence and the assassina­ tion of their fellow men. They cannot rid themselves of that potential, but can only diagnose it and strive to remain innocent criminals. Once again, as in the first Camusian literary period, the theme of death is subordinate to and exists apart from that of crime. viii Further evolution takes place in the death-crime theme during Camus' third literary period of La Chute and L'Exil et le royaume which spans the 1950's. Clamence is a guilty criminal who has failed to act and who has done nothing to prevent the death of his fellow man. He has committed no crime as such, but he has let death take place. During this period, the thematic structure, death-crime-happiness, undergoes vast change. Death has become a crime in man's own eyes. It is a crime committed not against a god, but against himself. Once again, in becoming aware of himself as criminal, he passes or falls from a state of primitive innocence and animality to a state of consciousness of culpability and becomes human.