The Realm Of The First Man

The choice in seeking individual redeem made by Camus in his later life has always been criticized by his opponents. Although the subject of seeking redeem of soul in modern world irritates a lot of people, a certain Prometheus who casts his eyes to grass and land is needed as well in contemporary society. As an unfinished work, The First Man, the last novel of Camus gets relatively rare attention from scholars in and abroad. This thesis, backed up by comprehensive coverage and general analysis of his works including novels, plays and essays, intends to discuss the progress of Camus' sentimental and educational experiences with the purpose in his writing this novel as starting point and with Albert Camus: A Biography of Herbert R. Lottman as major reference. Based on the analysis on Camus' life and works benefiting from previous researches, the author also tries to display the inner world and spiritual pursuit of Camus."The First Man" is created by Camus to denote a concept of individual growth, which, inferred from his speeches and works, can be defined as the following: a son grows from the absence of his father's introduction and a certain blank with no history, religion, ethics, education, etc...into a man who is independent and confident in facing and controlling his life and fate; this man is the first man. The core of this concept is the absence of father, containing three meanings: the realistic one refers to his lost of father in childhood which brands on him a vague feeling of being deserted; it also signifies absence of history, for without father a kid will be cut off from his family; another symbol meaning refers to absence of culture which is the first and fundamental motive for producing the sense of "the first man"; because of that ideology, Camus denies his family and childhood and exiles himself. Baptized in European culture, Camus makes a Hellenic dream by combining Mediterranean spirit and Tipasa in spring and invents a spiritual realm. In order to enter Greece spiritually, he tries hard to mould an ego, but that effort fails in many aspects: the construction of philosophy is weakly founded for his characters and inadequate knowledge store; his ethical reflection falls into predicament due to his stubbornly biased ideas and contemporary social reality; when he grows old, his life experiences seem to be concordant with Christian theology, but he eventually refused the bliss of religion. In a word, Camus fails to mould himself with spiritual fulfillment and happiness in European civilization within a framework of which his dream becomes a personal tragedy. After the travel to Greece in 1955, Camus gives up the pursuit of his Greek dream.When Camus becomes increasingly silent, he gets more time to meditate on his problems by reflecting himself in his works. Exile and Realm marks that alteration of his attitude. His articles, removed of the dark and depressing parlance, turn to be more clear and simple; the problems involved become more real and tangible, and he is gradually frank and open-minded in expressing his ideas. In 1958 he made a travel to Algeria before he finally formed a clear recognize of himself: "the first man" is the Algerian one, but not the European one. When he discards the European pride, he unexpectedly finds the meaning of himself and enters into his ideal realm. The boy who had confessed to his mother sincerely grows into a man.The First Man, summing up and symbolizing the whole life of Camus, is the most special and charming one of his works. It describes the childhood of Camus and completes his experiences in his works; it is the sole novel with no philosophical flavour, showing the maturity of his psychology after exile. Camus in this novel achieves completion of personality which is attributable to the calmness, tolerance, bravery and modesty resulted from his renouncement of pride. The First Man is a fable about life, like a beam of light at the end of a tunnal, pointing out the direction of life and the home of soul.