Hopelessness in Albert Camus The Plague and Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot :: comparison compare contrast essays

Hopelessness in Albert Camus The raise and Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot Does Existentialism deny the being of God? Can God possibly exist in a world full of madness and injustice? Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett address these questions in The Plague and Waiting for Godot. Though their thinking follows the ideals of existentialism, their conclusions are different. Camus did not believe in God, nor did he agree with the vast majority of the historical beliefs of the Christian religion. His attitude on Christianity is summed up most just by his remark that in its essence, Christianity (and this is its paradoxical greatness) is a doctrine of injustice. It is founded on the sacrifice of the costless and the bridal of this sacrifice (Bree 49). Camus felt that Jesus Christ was an innocent man who was unjustly killed. This does conflicts with all of Camus values. However, Camus did not believe that Jesus was the son of God. Camus inability to deal Christian theology is voiced i n The Plague by Riex and position against the beliefs preached by pay off Paneloux (Rhein 42). Panelouxs attitude toward the plague contrasts sharply with Rieuxs. In his world-class sermon, he preaches that the plague is divine in origin and punitive in its purpose. He attempts to put aside his desires for a rational explanation and simply accepts Gods will. In this way he is not revolting and therefore falls victim to the plague. Father Panelouxs belief that there are no innocent victims is shaken as he watches a young boy let on of the plague. Camus purposefully describes a long, painful death to achieve the greatest encumbrance on Paneloux When the spasms had passed, utterly exhausted, tensing his thin legs and arms, on which, within forty-eight hours, the remove had wasted to the bone, the child lay flat, in a grotesque represent of crucifixion (215). Paneloux cannot deny that the child was an innocent victim and is forced to second thought his ideas. During his second sermon, a change is seen in Father Paneloux. He presently uses the pronoun we instead of you, and he has adopted a new policy in which he tells people to believe all or nothing (224). Father Paneloux, as a Christian, is faced with a decision either he accepts that God is the ultimate ruler and brings goodness out of the evil that afflicts men, or he sides with Rieux and denies God.