IV.

Assessment

The young Albert Camus inherited and accepted the challenge of the negativism and gloom that followed upon two world wars. In his life and work he resisted despair and calls to replace a lost belief in God with some abstraction or ideology that might be used to justify crimes similar to those he had witnessed. Many readers have come to consider him the most profound, honest, and effective advocate of liberal humanism of our time. His name, ideas, and writings have been invoked during every major political or cultural crisis since his death. The clarity, simplicity, and elegance of his language and style have made his works accessible to each new generation. His literary masterpieces L’étranger and La chute are judged by many critics and scholars to be among the best works of prose fiction in the 20th century. Camus was a man who spoke to and for his fellow human beings about what concerns them most: morality, justice, and love.