Old Age as Punishment in L’Étranger by Albert Camus Cover Image

La Vieillesse comme châtiment dans L’Étranger d’Albert Camus
Old Age as Punishment in L’Étranger by Albert Camus

Author(s): Moussa Camara
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Editura Politehnium
Keywords: asylum; punishment; sky; society; old age;

Summary/Abstract: The camusian micro-society of L’Étranger has an age group that is vulnerable in all respects: the elderly. These protagonists of the novel draw the reader's attention to the fact that they are placed at the Marengo asylum to spend the rest of their lives there. As a result, we discover the inequities of society, which seems to impose an institutionalized punishment for separating from the elderly characters who die in solitude. Also, the pitiful condition of these old men comes from the logical consequence of the nature of men who, under the effect of time, see their organism wither away, weaken with the weight of age having the appearance of a celestial punishment.

  • Issue Year: 4/2020
  • Issue No: 7-8
  • Page Range: 170-177
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: French