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This World is man’s place of Exile and yet it is the only Kingdom he knows.*

So while man finds this world an absurd place to live in, a place indifferent to his existence and as cruel as the harsh Sun, where the agony sprawls over like an endless hot desert and the despair is as unbearable as the Algerian heat, man continuously strives to make the best of it, to find a meaning through revolt,freedom and passion.

Exile and The Kingdom, published in 1958 is Camus� last completely published work before his untimely death in 1960. It is a collection of six short stories by the Nobel Laureate.

A piece of advice before embarking on the reading of this collection: Do read his major works including The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall and The Plague. For, if one is not aware of Camus� ideas as expressed in these works, it is very likely that one may miss out the core of this collection. Here Camus, in each story and in a very subtle way, builds upon characters in accordance with his ideas.

Since the beginning of time, on the dry earth of this limitless land scraped to the bone, a few men had been ceaselessly trudging, possessing nothing but serving no one, poverty- stricken but free lords of a strange kingdom. Janine did not know why this thought filled her with such a sweet, vast melancholy that it closed her eyes. She knew that this kingdom had been eternally promised her and yet that it would never be hers, never again, except in this fleeting moment perhaps when she opened her eyes again on the suddenly motionless sky and on its waves of steady light, while the voices rising from the Arab town suddenly fell silent. It seemed to her that the world’s course had just stopped and that, from that moment on, no one would ever age any more or die. Everywhere, henceforth, life was suspended—except in her heart, where, at the same moment, someone was weeping with affliction and wonder.

In the first story “The Adulterous Woman�, Janine resembles the absurd hero Meursalt from “The Stranger�, who has discovered the absurd in a fleeting moment and has become aware of the benign indifference of the Universe. Though Janine has always realized the futility of existence, being married to Marcel and looking after his house mindlessly, it is here, in the desert, that she has realized the absurd, after slipping out of bed late at night when her husband is asleep. But as she realizes it, she also comes to understand that she needs the comfort of her husband’s presence in her life to find some sense in the living; the urgency to seek life in a World which offers nothing.

The story “The Renegade� is about a mutilated missionary who came to the salt city of Taghasa to convert its people but who is himself captured and mutilated by Fetish and lives in his imprisonment. This story is a piece of monologue which reminds of “The Fall�. Perhaps it is owing to the fact, that the mutilated part is the tongue, that he cannot actually speak but thinks over in silence. The other reason being that it portrays the inherent evil in a man, who as a priest, dreams of absolute power. Under the confinement he begins to think that only evil is supreme. He then also kills another missionary.

O Fetish, my god over yonder, may your power be preserved, may the offence be multiplied, may hate rule pitilessly over a world of the damned, may the wicked forever be masters, may the kingdom come, where in a single city of salt and iron black tyrants will enslave and possess without pity! And now, gra gra, fire on pity, fire on impotence and its charity, fire on all that postpones the coming of evil�.. How pleasant is the sound of a rifle butt on the face of goodness, today, today at last, all is consummated and everywhere in the desert, even hours away from here, jackals sniff the nonexistent wind, then set out in a patient trot toward the feast of carrion awaiting them. Victory! I raise my arms to a heaven moved to pity, a lavender shadow is just barely suggested on the opposite side, O nights of Europe, home, childhood, why must I weep in the moment of triumph?

Turning evil himself he murders. The seed had always been there, in the moments when he wished to kill his own father or reign over the ignorance of people, because he had lost hope in this World and was questioning everything. The struggle seems to point over to the central challenge that Camus poses: “Is it possible to find a rule of conduct outside the realm of religion and its absolute conduct?�

The missionary weeps after killing the other man, an act which portrays his anguish. Towards the end he says:

Cast off that hate-ridden face, be good now, we were mistaken, we’ll begin all over again, we’ll rebuild the city of mercy, I want to go back home. Yes, help me, that’s right, give me your hand.

We witness that though enslaved by evil once, at the heart, he is still hopeful for the future, for a future which will be meaningful, for man will find true happiness. In “The Fall� also, the man constantly struggles to get over that incident where he could save a drowning girl but didn’t and later he realized he would have never done so. For some reasons I was also reminded of “Heart of Darkness� by Conrad here.

Among these stories which also include the stories namely, The Silent Man, The Guest, The Artist at Work and The Growing stone, the last two are my favorites.

"The Artist at Work" is the struggle of an Artist to keep up the reputation of his name as well as producing his paintings. Through this story, the author attacks the world around the artist which keeps flocking at his door, but he also suggests the only way where a man; an artist can find true happiness. This being something he also suggested in The Myth of Sisyphus; the life of an artist, his will to produce art because it is something which gives a meaning to life. But Jonas, whose art and reputation declines as he welcomes more and more people in his life, seems to wonder over what is more important, his art or his commitment towards society.

"Take my word for it,� Jonas said; “I know them. You have to love them.� “And what about you?� Rateau said. “Do you exist? You never say anything bad about anyone.� Jonas began to laugh. “Oh! I often think bad of them. But then I forget.� He became serious. “No, I’m not sure of existing. But someday I’ll exist, I’m sure.�

After days of seclusion, he comes up with a painting, which to his friend, Rateau’s surprise is nothing but a blank canvas with only one word written very minutely � “Solitary or Solidary� but he cannot make out which one. I believe Camus also describes his own struggle as an Artist through this story.

The last story- "The Growing Stone" was the one which prompted much contemplation. D’Arrast, a French Engineer, comes to a town, Iguape in Brazil, for construction of a bridge. He is readily accepted by the important people of the town but the poor people do not trust him. He then meets a cook, who becomes his friend. On the night of dancing, while returning back, he is arrested by the scenery of forest.

The night was full of fresh aromatic scents. Above the forest the few stars in the austral sky, blurred by an invisible haze, were shining dimly. The humid air was heavy. Yet it seemed delightfully cool on coming out of the hut. D’Arrast climbed the slippery slope, staggering like a drunken man in the potholes. The forest, nearby, rumbled slightly. The sound of the river increased. The whole continent was emerging from the night, and loathing overcame D’Arrast. It seemed to him that he would have liked to spew forth this whole country, the melancholy of its vast expanses, the glaucous light of its forests, and the nocturnal lapping of its big deserted rivers. This land was too vast, blood and seasons mingled here, and time liquefied. Life here was flush with the soil, and, to identify with it, one had to lie down and sleep for years on the muddy or dried-up ground itself. Yonder, in Europe, there was shame and wrath. Here, exile or solitude, among these listless and convulsive madmen who danced to die. But through the humid night, heavy with vegetable scents, the wounded bird’s outlandish cry, uttered by the beautiful sleeping girl, still reached his ears.

The innate struggle of a stranger can also be witnessed here. But we also witness a sense of transcendence in the last lines, where the man does try to hold onto something to make a sense, much like as the feelings experienced by Janine in "The Adulterous Woman" where she weeps in the end.

As has been with all the other stories of this collection, stone is an important symbol used here also. In the scene where Cook is to carry a stone (because of his promise) on his back all the way to the Church through the town, I was reminded of Sisyphus� stone. What really captured my attention was that, D’Arrast, while taking the stone on his shoulders, because he wishes to help his friend, doesn’t proceed to Church but goes straight to Cook’s house and hurl the stone in glowing hearth.

He hastened his pace, finally reached the little square where the cook’s hut stood, ran to it, kicked the door open, and brusquely hurled the stone onto the still glowing fire in the centre of the room. And there, straightening up until he was suddenly enormous, drinking in with desperate gulps the familiar smell of poverty and ashes, he felt rising within him a surge of obscure and panting joy that he was powerless to name.

Does this signify something? Was Camus trying to work another idea here? Critics have, since his death, argued that Camus was onto something in his last works. From silence and solitariness, the condemned man moves on towards solidarity; not being religious, but in the wake of his understanding of absurd. Not giving in to the indifference but seeking a joy in amity. By hurling the stone in hearth, he is letting go off the weight of absurd to make way for a selfless joy. This solidarity is also depicted in The Plague where the doctor dedicates himself to the aid of people suffering from the endemic.

In my view, the stories in this collection, collectively works towards conveying the author’s ideas as he developed from his early works to the later works. It is a beautiful portrayal of an author’s advancement through his life and his attempt at finding that one kingdom where man may no longer feel exiled.

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* Source: Anonymous