“His love for the law that of one who feels above it but enjoys how tightly it binds other.”
I love this observation. It reminds me of certain tv presenters during Covid who fire-off tweets telling everyone to "stay at home" just before they hop on a plane for a sun-kissed holiday in the Caribbean.
Walter, I enjoy how you tie this work to today’s reality of the social mediums we communicate with and the rawness of our own dark sides. The phrase that struck me most: “Proud homeowners who parade their rooms on Instagram don’t also post photos of their exhausted maids.” There is always a “backstory” in life. Thank you for stimulating some of my exhausted brain cells.
An excellent meditation on our current social media-saturated moment. It’s one thing to be an ancient monarch, self-consciously flaunting your wealth and stays explicitly for the purpose of showing your subjects how much wealth and status you posses. It’s another thing entirely to fool yourself and perhaps others (but probably not) by clothing exhibitionism in the garb of false magnanimity. Woe to the humble bragger, for he has received his reward.
Since I’m already pontificating, I’ll share my pet theory about what got us here. It’s the death of Original Sin. As Chesterton stated (I think) “Only with original sin can we pity the beggar and distrust the king.” Ironically, as we’ve progressed into this secular age, we’ve actually regressed to an atavistic attitude that deludes us into thinking that the privileged deserve their privilege. No more of that “the last shall be first” rubbish please. We’ve got a meritocracy to manage.
“If he were an American today, he might have stuck a lawn sign in his yard advertising his cosmopolitan tolerance.” How this line brings a smile to my face! We’ve all met Clamence some point along the way in life. Possibly a few times—men and women. The brilliance of Camus is in his making his deficiencies and qualities so real. It’s sort of frightening, the thought occurs I might see narcissistic aspects of Clamence in myself!
And if hypocrisy becomes the ultimate standard, morality becomes not just solipsistic, but vulnerable to the worst varieties of “resoluteness,” of those political projects which may be authentic and despotic.
The best part about The Fall is that the reader experiences the same seduction that Clamence inflicts on others. You want to go back for more, don’t you?
Living in a neighborhood surrounded by pious lawn signs, I quite enjoyed this. (Somehow these signs flourish alongside the high-end real estate signs; a symbiotic relationship....)
One can see how in Sartre’s conception of morality, authenticity can easily become a source of vanity independent of any real virtuous accomplishment. And there’s a short leap from this to the contemporary centrality of tolerance in ethics, which is often just a lapidary expression of the absence of standards.
“His love for the law that of one who feels above it but enjoys how tightly it binds other.”
I love this observation. It reminds me of certain tv presenters during Covid who fire-off tweets telling everyone to "stay at home" just before they hop on a plane for a sun-kissed holiday in the Caribbean.
Walter, I enjoy how you tie this work to today’s reality of the social mediums we communicate with and the rawness of our own dark sides. The phrase that struck me most: “Proud homeowners who parade their rooms on Instagram don’t also post photos of their exhausted maids.” There is always a “backstory” in life. Thank you for stimulating some of my exhausted brain cells.
Grandpa always said "Look a man in the eye and tell him the truth, you'll both be better for it."
But now we all look down at the glowing screen...
An excellent meditation on our current social media-saturated moment. It’s one thing to be an ancient monarch, self-consciously flaunting your wealth and stays explicitly for the purpose of showing your subjects how much wealth and status you posses. It’s another thing entirely to fool yourself and perhaps others (but probably not) by clothing exhibitionism in the garb of false magnanimity. Woe to the humble bragger, for he has received his reward.
Since I’m already pontificating, I’ll share my pet theory about what got us here. It’s the death of Original Sin. As Chesterton stated (I think) “Only with original sin can we pity the beggar and distrust the king.” Ironically, as we’ve progressed into this secular age, we’ve actually regressed to an atavistic attitude that deludes us into thinking that the privileged deserve their privilege. No more of that “the last shall be first” rubbish please. We’ve got a meritocracy to manage.
Rare is the man who is honest with others; even rarer is he who is honest with himself.
The problem is only exasperated by social media where it’s much easier to primp, pose and parrot the virtuous narrative of today’s monoculture.
“If he were an American today, he might have stuck a lawn sign in his yard advertising his cosmopolitan tolerance.” How this line brings a smile to my face! We’ve all met Clamence some point along the way in life. Possibly a few times—men and women. The brilliance of Camus is in his making his deficiencies and qualities so real. It’s sort of frightening, the thought occurs I might see narcissistic aspects of Clamence in myself!
Terrific essay!
And if hypocrisy becomes the ultimate standard, morality becomes not just solipsistic, but vulnerable to the worst varieties of “resoluteness,” of those political projects which may be authentic and despotic.
The best part about The Fall is that the reader experiences the same seduction that Clamence inflicts on others. You want to go back for more, don’t you?
Living in a neighborhood surrounded by pious lawn signs, I quite enjoyed this. (Somehow these signs flourish alongside the high-end real estate signs; a symbiotic relationship....)
Thank you for this, Walter. Was a balm after spending more than five minutes on Twitter this morning.
One can see how in Sartre’s conception of morality, authenticity can easily become a source of vanity independent of any real virtuous accomplishment. And there’s a short leap from this to the contemporary centrality of tolerance in ethics, which is often just a lapidary expression of the absence of standards.
Terrific, sensitive read. More in a just a bit, but happy to have started the day reading this.
Great essay Walter. I need to read this book again, after a 41 year break!
Very thought provoking. I'll look for it at the library - if they ever open again.