Essay about the situation in France in 1942.

Kitson, Simon. "Spying for Germany in Vichy France” and “Gaulle, Charles De (1890–
1970)” by Jean-Jacques Becker.
-Summary
France's situation in 1940-1942.
France’s status during 1942 wasn’t really normal we have proof in general De Gaulle’s
portrait whose will was to “restore the French army at the end of the war” and he was also
willing to give the people back their voice; this included women, who were granted the right to
vote. A society in which woman don’t have rights, a society which army was devastated. This
proves that the country wasn’t running well. The societies which are willing to give women the
right to vote were usually wrecked, and so was France.

France was no more in control of its territory, “Germany occupied two thirds of
metropolitan France in the period 1940-42” Phillipe Petain, head of Vichy France, established
his new Etat Francais, an effective dictatorship superseding the republican system which he
blamed for the French defeat, after signing an armistice with Germany and Italy in June 1940.
This means that France has no Government in Paris, but “the Provisional Government of
France was transferred to Algeria.”
There were also in France the German intelligences agents running the country for
information and also for capturing the Jewish people. Simon Kitson added that “the growth of
intelligence operations against France testifies to a basic distrust in the country”.
The intelligence operations was a lucrative activity in France “Spies could earn 1,000 francs for
the denunciation of a Jew and 3,000 francs for a Resister. The reward for information leading to
the discovery of an arms depot was between 5,000 and 30,000 francs.” Archives suggest that
there were possibly as many as three times the number of German intelligence agents working
against France by mid-1941 than there had been in mid-1940.
The situation in France was really tense around 1940-42, the French didn’t have control
of their own territory and were under the control of the Germans. It was a really frustrating
atmosphere for the French which were living in the country and also for those who were living
outside.

Important Quotes_
-“Germany occupied two thirds of metropolitan France in the period 1940-42”
-”Spies could earn 1,000 francs for the denunciation of a Jew and 3,000 francs for a Resister.
The reward for information leading to the discovery of an arms depot was between 5,000 and
30,000 francs.”
- “Archives suggest that there were possibly as many as three times the number of German
intelligence agents working against France by mid-1941 than there had been in mid-1940.”

Purpose_
I would use that part of the history to convince that Albert Camus was passing his state
of mind through Mersault. He was feeling uncertain about himself and didn’t trust anybody. So
was Mersault, he didn’t mind anybody but was just living his life.
 Essay on Algiers around 1930’s pr 1940’s.
Junior Trition, “Operation torch”
Summary -
In Algeria, in 1940, the allies were invading the country. Operation Torch was the British-
American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign,
started 8 November 1942.
The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and Britain to start operations in
Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops.
While the American commanders favored Operation Sledgehammer, landing in Occupied
Europe as soon as possible, the British commanders believed that such a course would end in
disaster. An attack on French North Africa was proposed instead, which would clear the Axis
Powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediteraneen Sea and prepare for an
invasion of Southern Europe in 1943.

Important quotes:
-”Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II
during the North African Campaign, started 8 November 1942.”

Purpose:
Algiers was at that time at war since it was a french colony ant the allies used the
territory to operate their startegies. Camus pictured the sad days of the Algeria in his book
where he reproduced himself or his beliefs about his country. The sun that he could compare to
the Allies which made Mersault who’s is like his “Country” do whatever they want.

Poem
“Discrimination” by Kenneth Rox

Summary
Rexroth tells us how used he is about the human race. He says that nothing matters to
him about them. he can sit next to them without caring. One of them can marry his sister he still
won’t care
Purpose
This poem shows how regular the author thinks about life, about the people around him.
His very first line translates his state of mind: “I don’t mind the human race.” which is exactly
how Mersault thinks about the human race. Him that doesn’ t mind looking a woman being
beaten, or “humans” discussing about whether he should live or die for he’s done.

Important Quotes:
-“I don’t mind the human race.
I’ve got pretty used to them
In these past twenty-five years.”
-” I shouldn’t
Care to see my own sister
Marry one.”
Absurdism
“Absurdism” in wikipedia.
Summary
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to see
inherent meaning in life and the human inability to find any.. In this context absurd does not
mean "logically impossible," but rather "humanly impossible."
Absurdism, therefore, is a philosophical school of thought stating that the efforts of
humanity to find inherent meaning will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd), because no such
meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual. As a philosophy, absurdism also explores
the fundamental nature of the Absurd and how individuals, once becoming conscious of the
Absurd, should react to it.
Absurdism is very closely related to existentialism and nihilism.
Important Quotes
-”As a philosophy, absurdism also explores the fundamental nature of the Absurd and how
individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd, should react to it.”
-”Camus considers absurdity as a confrontation, an opposition, a conflict or a "divorce" between
two ideals.”
Purpose
Camus uses Absurdism in “The Stranger” to show the confrontation of Mersault with the
ideals of the society. in the Book, the Stranger, Marie’s ideals is “if you’re with someone and you
want to marry that person, you’re supposed to love that person” but Mersault’s ideal wasn’t the
same. He had in mind that if she asked him then he could just say yes just to make her happy.
Absurdism in Camus’ “The Stranger.” is a confrontation between Mersault’s world and the
ordinary world.
Existentialism
“Existentialism” in Wikipedia.
summary
Existentialism states that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the
conditions of existence of the individual person and his or her emotions, actions, responsibilities,
and thoughts.
Subsequent existentialist philosophers retain the emphasis on the individual, but differ,
in varying degrees, on how one achieves and what constitutes a fulfilling life, what obstacles
must be overcome, and what external and internal factors are involved, including the potential
consequences of the existence or non-existence of God.
Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy, in
both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.
Important Quotes
-Existentialism states that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the
conditions of existence of the individual person and his or her emotions, actions, responsibilities,
and thoughts.
Purpose
This relates to Mersault that can’t control his emotions, that lets himself influenced by the rays of
the sun and leads him to accomplish tremendous mistakes.
 Albert Camus
Albert camus:
Albert Camus was a French Algerian author, philosopher and journalist. He was a key
philosopher of the 20th-century, his most famous work being the novel the
Stranger(L'Étranger).Camus was awarded the 1957 Nobel prize for literature "for his important
literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human
conscience in our times". He was the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature,
after Rudyard Kipling, and the first African-born writer to receive the award. He is the shortest-
lived of any Nobel literature laureate to date, having died in an automobile accident just over two
years after receiving the award.
Albert Camus was born on 7 November 1913 in Drean (then known as Mondovi) in
French Algeria to a Pied-Noir settler family. Pied-Noir was a term used to refer to European
colonists of French Algeria until Algerian Independence in 1962. His mother was of Spanish
descent and was half-deaf. His father Lucien, a poor agricultural worker, died in the Battle of the
Marne in 1914 during Wolrd War II, while serving as a member of the Zouave infantry regiment.
Camus and his mother lived in poor conditions during his childhood in the Belcourt section of
Algiers.
Camus joined the French Communist Party in the spring of 1935, seeing it as a way to "fight
inequalities between Europeans and 'natives' in Algeria. Camus conducted numerous affairs,
particularly an irregular and eventually public affair with the Spanish-born actress Maria Cesares
In the same year, Camus began to work for Paris Soir magazine. In the first stage of World War
II, the so-called Phoney War, Camus was a pacifist. In Paris during the Wehrmacht occupation,
on 15 December 1941, Camus witnessed the execution of Gabriel Perit; it crystallized his revolt
against the Germans. He moved to Bordeaux with the rest of the staff of Paris-Soir. In the same
year he finished his first books, The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus. He returned briefly to
Oran, Algeria in 1942.
When the Algerian-war began in 1954, Camus was confronted with a moral dilemma. He
identified with the pieds Noirs such as his own parents and defended the French government's
actions against the revolt. He argued that the Algerian uprising was an integral part of the 'new
Arab imperialism' led by Egypt and an 'anti-Western' offensive orchestrated by Russia to
'encircle Europe' and 'isolate the United States'. Although favouring greater Algerian autonomy
or even Federation, though not full-scale independence, he believed that the pied-noirs and
Arabs could co-exist. During the war he advocated a civil truce that would spare the civilians,
which was rejected by both sides, who regarded it as foolish. Behind the scenes, he began to
work for imprisoned Algerians who faced the death penalty.
Camus's first significant contribution to philosophy was his idea of the absurd. He saw it
as the result of our desire for clarity and meaning within a world and condition that offers
neither, which he expressed in The Myth Of sisyphus and incorporated into many of his other
works, such as The Stranger and The plague.
The Immigrant Experience.
“The Immigrant Experience” by wikipedia.
Summary
The first finnish immigrants to North America arrived to the New Swedencolony
by the River Delaware in 1640. Finland was an integrated part of the Kingdom of
Sweden at the time, and a Swedish colony in the New World was bound to include
subjects from Finland as well. In two years' time, the number of Finns in the settlement
had grown to fifty, and was increasing. New Sweden changed hands to The dutch
control in 1655, but many Finns had already entered and the Finnish community, while
small, was growing.
Migration to North America from Finland continued throughout the 17th and 18th
centuries, but it was very sporadic in nature and only a few individuals and groups dared
make the move. This was largely due to the long distance between Europe and America,
and the difficulties associated with crossing it. However, as the industrial revolution
began with the turn of the 19th century, bringing with it such technological innovations as
railways and steam ships, these obstacles slowly began to disappear.
While the rest of Europe was industrialising, Finland, by now a Grand duchy of
Imperial Russia, was to a great extent excluded from the revolutionary process. The
society was largely agrarian, and unemployment was rising, resultant from population
growth and the fact that there was now little land left to cultivate in the country. America,
on the other hand, possessed abundant natural resources but lacked a work force. The
agriculture of Finland during the 1860s seemed doomed to remain laborious, stunted,
and forever at the mercy of unpredictable weather. In 1867, a severe crop failure in
Finland drove masses of Finns, especially from rural Ostrobothnia, into migrating to
Norway, from where they later moved to the United states and Canada.
These finnsh relate that their experience being far from their home, from their
main land where florishes their culture was really hard. Living in a new Country in which
hey had to learn a new language and also new manners. A country in which they had to
adopt new manners and also live in a new weather sometimes.
Purpose
This experience could justify why did Camus related the story of the stranger in Algeria
Which proves that he was nostalgic of his own country. and he was also showing in
Mersault’s Boss asking him to move to Paris that he would never moved to Paris if he
had the choice.
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