Literature
The Fall
CevvelaSummary
A long monologue in which Jean-Baptiste Clamence — a successful, charitable and upright Parisian lawyer — recounts the collapse of his “exemplary” life, his hypocrisy and his vanity after he does nothing to save a woman who jumps from a bridge.
Quotes from Cevvela
“People are more inclined to believe not in the virtues you display, but in the weaknesses behind them.”
“Judging others is the most insidious way of forgiving ourselves.”
“Goodness is often pride’s most ornate costume.”
“A person is alone only when they are unhappy.”
“Facing yourself with complete honesty is building hell with your own hands.”
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Camus takes the modern intellectual’s mask of the “angel of goodness” and drops it into a tub of acid. Clamence is in fact the reader: our helpfulness, courtesy and virtues are often games we invent only to satisfy our ego and prove our superiority. Cevvela does not judge people; but The Fall commands that we pass that judgment on ourselves. You notice the dark satisfaction behind the kindnesses you do for others, and you are disgusted by your own morality. The fall is the moment a person faces their own pride.