Nihilism portrayed in the characters of Camus

Abstract

The aim of this article is to argue about the nihilistic experiences of Camus's characters, and to demonstrate that Camus's essayistic reflection on the themes of absurdity, suicide, murder, nihilism and revolt are effectively worked out in the novel and theater that complement each other within the fabric of Camus's cyclical work. To this end, an analysis will be carried out mainly on the works: The Adulterous Woman (short story), which brings a reflection on the negation of life; escape and negation in the short story Jonas or the artist at work; The Stranger (novel), in which the question of the absurd and nihilism is widely worked on; The Plague (novel), observed here in the context of murderous consent and nihilism or revolt and refusal; and finally, Caligula (theater), a drama that expresses absurd reasoning taken to its ultimate consequences within a nihilistic perspective. The analysis showed that the characters who express such nihilistic experiences, at some point, come up against the absurd, and each responds in a different way to this encounter: some remain in nihilism; others turn to suicide as a living death; others to murder; and still others fight the plague and, in a way, try to overcome the problem.