Camus' Outsider and Solzhenitsyn's One Day

        In the novel, the cold is a physical manifestation of the coldness with which the managers of the labor camp treat prisoners. Solzhenitsyn uses examples of imagery to carefully illustrate what the sentence for the prisoners were like, in hopes of giving us an experience of what they were subject to. Body searches that would be humiliating in the best of climates are physically torturous in temperatures of forty degrees below zero. Wearing flimsy prison clothes would be degrading enough for the inmates even in summer, but wearing them in the biting Siberian winter makes constant suffering a part of their prison sentence. Not only does Shukhov have to concentrate on avoiding punishment at the hands of the enforcers of the camp’s often absurd regulations, but he also has to protect himself from the cold.

        Solzhenitsyn’s constant emphasis and repetition on the biting cold reminds us that Shukhov is not only a political prisoner but a prisoner of nature as well. No one ever considers trying to escape from the camp, for the obvious reason that the intense weather would cause a quick death. “Prisoners had gotten over the wire across these snowdrifts and made a run for it. But it’s true they didn’t get far” (Solzhenitsyn 58). The combination of the hard camp life and forbidding weather creates the sense that the whole universe is against Shukhov and his fellow inmates – their lives are hindered by both humans and nature. This sense of oppression highlights the anguish of the human condition. The world is inhospitable, and yet it is the fate of humans to carry on, one day at a time.

        In the Outsider however, it is not the biting cold but the harrowing heat that torments Meursault. He is relentlessly struggling with the calidity nature has bestowed upon him and feels as if “there was no way out”. The heat prevents him from acting sensibly which might also contribute to his outward image of seeming indifferent. The punishment exercised on Meursault is unlike the punishment enforced upon Shukhov. Throughout the majority of the novel, Meursault is not in society-inflicted captivity. He lives a life seemingly void of social consequences. However, after he involuntarily kills an Arab due to “the cymbals the sun was clashing against [his] forehead” (Camus 60), the world crashes down on him. Strangely though, he was chiefly convicted not for the murder of the Arab but for his indifferent point of view towards life in general. In that sense, society regards him as a “monster” and “a danger to society”. Meursault’s murder of an Arab soon becomes insignificant compared to his apathetic attitude towards his mother’s death. His act of killing the Arab became merely an excuse to convict him and place him under unjust punishment for solely being different.

        Faith is required by Meursault, Shukhov, and fellow inmates in the two novels to overcome these unjust punishments. They need to have unconditional faith that the next day might just be a little better. Although Shukhov does not think or talk about religion for the majority of the novel, his final conversation with Alyoshka, a devout Baptist, reveals that faith can be a means of survival in the oppressive camp system. Shukhov’s sense of inner peace in the novel’s last paragraph, which resembles Alyoshka’s sense of inner peace throughout the novel, demonstrates that religious faith offers strength in the face of adversity. Meursault on the other hand, rejected religion openly and said that “it had nothing to with [him]” (Camus 68). However, contrary to what Meursault believes in, faith is still present within him. He has faith in himself that he can make the best out of what he has, and live each remaining day to its potential. Without even that insignificant amount of faith, Meursault would have succumbed to a different lifestyle and entrapment losing any self dignity he possessed.

        Regardless of the adversities Meursault and Shukhov were challenged with, they both managed to retain human dignity within their character. Shukhov invariably insists on removing his hat, however cold it might be, before eating, to give himself a sense that he is behaving in a civilized manner. He refuses to passively allow anyone to dehumanize him and take his dignity away from him. Meursault as well, preserves his self dignity by collectedly accepting his fate without outward rebellion. Even when committed for something as absurd as being indifferent to the happenings around him, he retains his posture and achieves a level of human dignity that did not seem possible in his undeserved situation.

        So, “What gives us the moral right to punish anyone when we are imperfect ourselves?” and “What do we hope to accomplish when we punish someone?” We do not have the moral right to punish anyone. Society only does so because they have no alternative choice. Law and order must be established to ensure the peace and harmony of citizens within a precinct. However, it is still possible to discipline criminals without enforcing unjust punishments. Marcus Tullius Cicera, a great roman philosopher said, “Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer offenses for which others are not even indicted.” Punishments should only be implemented when the offender has been proven guilty and when the punishment has been put into perspective with the crime committed. Therefore, punishments should be cautiously enacted and human dignity deeply reflected upon because “an unjust punishment is never forgotten” (Penelope Fitzgerald).

Word Count: 1,361

Bibliography

1. Camus, Albert. The Outsider. London: Penguin Group Inc., 2000.

2. Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York: Penguin Group Inc., 1998.

3. Salisbury, Harrison E. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Books.

. December 18, 2006.