Albert Camus's Philosophy of Communication: Making Sense in an A ...

Common Center

The work of Martin Buber provides a clear description of the importance of a common center for human life: “The real essence of community is to be found in the fact—manifest or otherwise—that it has a center. The real beginning of a community is when its members have a common relation to the center overriding all other relations” (Utopia, 135). Adding to this, Michael Zank wrote, “Having a common Center to which they are devoted, the members of the community are to varying degrees freed from the shackles of self-centered interest, rendering them more alert to the existence and presence of the other” (227). As noted previously, Arnett’s work suggests the importance of a common center by illustrating what happens when a common center is lost or neglected. Arnett and Arneson, greatly influenced by the work of Buber, also suggested, “The common center of discourse is what brings people together in conversation; the common center, not the psyche of the partners in the conversation, is fundamental” (128–129). A commitment to maintaining a common center should be distinguished from a commitment that focuses upon individualism, a theme that Camus explored in The Fall. One who reads The Fall is confronted with a character who lacks a common center for conversation extending beyond his own self-interest. Of course, by choosing to write in a monologic style, Camus accentuated this point in the text. The monologue presents the reader with only Clamence’s interpretations of what his interlocutor thinks; the lack of dialogue is another facet that can potentially contribute to existential homelessness.

Dialogue

A fuller treatment of dialogue is explored in chapter 3, but this section provides a few coordinates for making sense of The Fall in light of this concept. According to Julia T. Wood, dialogue is “the idea that any utterance or act is always responding to and anticipating other utterances and acts” (“Entering” xvi). As noted previously, the writing style chosen by Camus to tell this story greatly emphasizes the necessity of dialogue through the very absence of dialogue. The only insights the reader gains