Guilt and Corrupt Civilization in Albert Camus's the Fall and J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians

The civilization today that we are living in is ironically embraced by a reality too comfortable and yet miserable. It is the former in the sense that the modernization that inflicted humankind has radically changed our lives in terms of the emergence of genius minds and greater dreams among the people, thus, making living easy and pleasurable. However, on the other thought, it is because of this easy living that actually brought misery. Apparently, instead of living in content, some tend to endeavor on making their lives easier than the rest. In our present society, we can find countless individuals who are enjoying a life way better than the most of us and yet people are allowing this to happen. For instance, there are some politicians spending their pleasant lives in power while presenting perhaps a fake façade of friendliness and being people-oriented. Moreover, in an attempt of make up for this appalling situation, noble concepts, such as justice, are introduced. But then again, only those who have the advantage can impose justice - legally. Hence, the ordinary people, much more are those who are considered to belong in the lower class, are living without any choice but to go with the mechanics that seem to run the corrupt society. Yet those who dominate views the present conditions of the less advantaged as the product of their own wrong choices. But who are they to believe so? In this paper, the story The Fall and Waiting for the Barbarians will be explored while taking into consideration how the central character dealt with the guilt and corruption that inflicted humankind.

The Existence of Guilt in The Fall

Albert Camus' story, The Fall is composed almost entirely of a narration by Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a Parisian lawyer who calls himself as a "judge-penitent". He has presented himself as a successful and well-respected lawyer who has been helping clients who are involved in serious cases; some of them are less-fortunate who cannot afford a legal defense (Camus 3). At first, Clamence seem to project that he is living an almost perfect life, being wealthy yet helpful to the people around him. However, in one part of the story, he narrated an incident that happened to him one night in Pont Royal, which continues to haunt him for a long time. Accordingly, on his way home, Clamence saw a woman who is about to jump over the bridge to the body of water below. However, despite of what he saw, he chose not to do anything until the woman finally jumped. As he hears the sloshing of water, he remained to act indifferent towards the incident. For this reason, he began to be engulfed by extreme guilt and incongruence of his thinking. Here he is presenting himself as a defender of the weak and yet he did nothing out of fear of endangering his own life. He expressed this fear as he said, "I wanted to run and yet didn't stir. I was trembling, I believe from cold and shock. I told myself that I had to be quick and I felt an irresistible weakness steal over me. I have forgotten what I thought then" (Camus 70). After this, there was one incident when Clamence heard someone laughing. "There was nothing mysterious about that laugh; it was a good, hearty, almost friendly laugh" (Camus 39). Yet despite this, it is said that the laughter comes from inside him, a manifestation of his guilt, of his corrupt character.

The guilt was eating Clamence so he made a way in order to cope with this guilt. He did this by attempting to destroy his projected reputation (Camus 326). He tried to put himself up from the heavy burden of guilt that weighs down on him by putting other people down. Moreover, he admitted that the nobility that he has been doing is actually his desire to for superiority and not really of pure kindness. Yet all these attempts failed to stop the laughter that continues to haunt him inside. Perhaps, this is because, he continues to live in dishonesty, on facing the truth that he is indeed living corrupt life and that what he is currently doing is not only a mere façade to cover up for his guilt, it is indeed the real him. In the end he conceded, "we cannot assert the innocence of anyone, whereas we can state with certainty the guilt of all" (Camus 110).

Corruption and Betrayal in Waiting for the Barbarians

The lead character of the story is the Magistrate of an empire who led a peaceful leadership until the arrival of a certain Colonel Joll. There were rumors on the planned uprising against the empire of natives, who are referred in the story as "barbarians". In the attempt to prevent this attack, Colonel Joll captured the barbarians and killed many of them. Also, if not killed, some of the barbarians are tortured by the men of Colonel Joll. This is the fate suffered by girl, who was ruthlessly crippled and blinded. Fortunately, the Magistrate was kind-hearted enough to help the girl. He takes the girl's face "between [his] hands and stare into the dead centers of her eyes, from which twin reflections of [himself] stare solemnly" (Coetzee 40). He wanted to know how the girl feels about the men who did this to her but all she can answer is, "I am tired of talking" (Coetzee 41). This is a reflection of choosing silence over justice because of the lack of choices that the society has left the oppressed. Moreover, when authorities heard about this nobility, they tortured the Magistrate himself, treating him as barbarian. He was freed later on but he lived a poor life of a beggar. The empire which he defended now turned his back on him, exposing him shamelessly in public.

Fort this story, the central theme is really on the corrupt society. It can be said that the Magistrate cope with this corrupt civilization by being of help and service to his fellowmen even at the expense of his own life and dignity. In his advocacy for justice, he said, "there must always be a place for penance and reparation" (Coetzee 79). Yet, in the end, it is still the empire, which he helped, who turned its back on him. The system remained corrupt but the Magistrate was able to maintain his character intact.

Conclusion

Indeed, we can only but face the reality that we are living in a corrupt civilization. It is corrupt in the sense that there is a widespread injustice in the system that should be governing and preserving justice for the people. It is corrupt because some less-advantaged people are living without any choice but to follow what appears to be an unfortunate predestined life for them. It is corrupt in the sense that there is inequality among the people. It is corrupt for those people in power oppress the unfortunate. Yet with the kind of people that Clamence and the Magistrate represent, it can be deduced that what really made the civilization corrupt is still the humankind who live in it. People like Clamence are constrained with their own selfish interests. Yet they fail to admit this truth by hiding their guilt and making themselves believe that what they are doing is serving their fellowmen, when in fact, it is completely the opposite. On the other hand, there are people like the Magistrate, who do other people noble things and yet have to suffer in exchange of the betrayal of the people he should be in the side of. But then again, despite his nobility, the corrupt society composed of corrupt minds and hearts, would only made him suffer in the end. These events might be make-believed experienced by fictional characters but this is a reflection of our society - of how people are engrossed with their selfish motives and of how they struggle to cope with guilt of their own corrupt actions. This is indeed a fictional account, yet this is our society's story.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Fall. USA: Vintage, 1984.

Coetzee, J.M. Waiting for the Barbarians. USA: Penguin Books, 1980.