Author: Anonymous
Albert Camus, the 20th Century French absurdist philosopher, is a man of contradictions. He is the type of philosopher to prove that nothing is ever certain in life or philosophy – ultimately, both the true and the wrong can be correct if we attribute equal argumentation and reflection to them. This is at the forefront of existentialism – there is truly no right nor wrong, in other words, no meaning.
Les Justes stresses this radically. The play follows four young Socialist-revolutionaries in Tsarist Russia at the turn of the century, a true story. Their goal is to create a bomb which will kill the Grand Duke, the uncle of the Tsar, as a means to establish enough fear and terror to start a revolution and turn Russia away from totalitarianism. Their plan takes an unexpected turn, however, when one of the characters refuses to throw the bomb on the Grand Duke, as he is accompanied by his young nieces.
Camus thus explores the moral issues associated with terrorism and murder, especially of the innocent. The latter could lead to revolution, sure, but could a wrong-doing lead to ultimate happiness and liberty, could such an act establish a sound, moral state? History has proven that such a thing is not possible. Not in such a sequence of events.
The key themes of this play are also those of love and friendship, and especially the opposition between right and wrong, between the radical and moderate, love and hate. Although they are all fighting for the same cause, these four characters all approach their duty in different ways, which highlights the multi-faceted nature of revolution and political resistance. Camus invites us to rejoice at times, to relate to one character’s idealism and sensibility, but he also lets us reflect with terror on the extremism of another character. In this way, Les Justes is one of the more complete and exhaustive texts of the philosopher.
Edited by: Olivia Pataki
Coverimage by: hjburatynski from pixabay – https://pixabay.com/photos/warden-prison-citadel-historic-5509334/
