The Use of Weather in the Works of Albert Camus and Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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In the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Shukov is the protagonist who lives in the harsh conditions of a Russian gulag, where weather plays an immeasurable role. Early on in the novel, this is established many times. The prisoners of the gulag are slaves to the weather, and even go to the extent of praying for certain conditions. ...the thermometer hung, caked over with ice. Shukov gave a hopeful sidelong glance at the milk- white tube. If it went down to forty-two below zero they weren't supposed to be marched out to work.

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But today the thermometer wasn't pushing forty or anything like it. ... [one of the gang bosses] climbed up and wiped the thermometer.

The fellow up the post said in a hoarse voice: 'Seventeen and a half below-shit!' The thought of the temperature dropping to a point where the prisoners were allowed to stay inside and not go to work thrilled them. However, it failed to meet the requirement and downheartedness plagued not only Shukov but everyone.

It was by this nature that weather had the power to dictate the mood of Shukov.

Solzhenitsyn employed the use of varied points of view throughout the novel. These different points put the reader in different places, whether it be in the protagonist's mind or elsewhere. He often used the skaz point of view, which was one where the narrator is not in a character's mind but rather on the same level as the character.

Solzhenitsyn contrasted the feeling of warmth and coldness more than once to concrete the role that weather played in as a form of constraint.

"When you're cold, don't expect sympathy from someone who's warm." Using skaz, the author directly communicates to the reader rather than through a character the significance of being cold - it is unlike anything else and the paralysis that it had could only be understood by experiencing it. This point is supported once again in the following quote: "A guy who's warm doesn't know what it's like to be frozen or he wouldn't ask stupid questions like that." The reader is unable to differentiate between skaz or the first person in this quote, however the message is blatant.

The climax in The Outsider occurs when Meursault is at the beach with Raymond and kills an Arab. Meursault has no real motive and provides no justifications for his actions - he blames it on the sun. Camus uses varied literary techniques in presenting this event in order to manifest its importance. The description allotted to it is astounding, much more astute than anything previously described in the novel.

Since Meursault is one that is affected more by his surroundings than anything else, the description of the weather is warranted as it is the driving force that leads him to kill. The beach is personified as it was "pressing against me from behind." Camus utilizes an alliteration to exemplify the damage that the sun's light had on Meursault: "The light leapt up off the steel and it was like a long, flashing sword lunging at my forehead." The sun attacked Meursault, leading him on: "I couldn't stand this burning feeling any longer. ... All I could feel were the cymbals the sun was clashing against my forehead ..."

It seems as if Meursault had no choice and was forced to move forward and kill the Arab out of his will: "I knew it was stupid and I wouldn't get out of the sun with one step. But I took a step, just one step forward. And this time, without sitting up, the Arab drew his knife and held it out towards me in the sun." Meursault had no control over his actions, he was simply a slave to the sun. Later in the novel, he admits this himself during his court case: "I said, rather haphazardly in fact, that I hadn't intended to kill the Arab. ... Mixing up my words a bit and realizing that I sounded ridiculous I said quickly that it was because of the sun." His motives for killing the Arab seem to confuse himself as he is surprised at the reason he killed the Arab.

However, he still felt no emotion and does not even think of the Arab as a person, as it was only a "lifeless body." One can clearly see that Meursault's mood is controlled by the weather and with this, Camus hoped to reveal many things. Obviously, one notices that Meursault is a character without emotion. He feels no emotion towards the death of his mother, or his girlfriend Marie. He simply lives life to experience physical sensation. As a result, anything that has a physical effect on him dictates his mood (the weather). The importance in this lies later in the story when Meursault is condemned for not crying at his mother's funeral. He is condemned for failing to conform to society. The effect of weather provides justification for Meursault's actions.

As one can see, he is not a character to experience emotions, therefore why should he cry at his mother's funeral? He is a character consumed by the physical world. Meursault's epiphany about the absurdity of life is simple: no matter what one does, death is inevitable. However, through all this, one can still lead a life of happiness, which is Camus' ultimate message. The tantalizing effect of weather on Meursault shows that regardless if he was depressed at his mother's funeral due to her passing or the sun, it makes no difference whatsoever; the realization of this "benign indifference" is what can truly make one happy.

The cold in Shukov's life reveals many things about him. Prisoners in a gulag have two choices, they can either adapt to the harsh conditions or they can scramble by and struggle to survive. Shukov is one to adapt.

"The cold here outside the camp with a wind blowing, was biting Shukov's face, even though it could take almost anything by now. He knew he'd have the wind in his face like this all the way to the power plant, so he put a piece of rag over it. ... Shukov put it around his face, right up to his eyes, ran the tapes under his ears and tied his neck with the flap of his cap and pulled up the collar of his jacket.

Then he pulled down the front flap over his forehead. So call you could see was his eyes. He tightened his coat around his middle with the rope. Now everything was okay." Despite the harsh weather, Shukov found a way to persevere. It is through this that Solzhenitsyn portrays Shukov as an admirable character. He is not only a character that lived under principled guidelines in the camp (taking off his hat when eating, never licking out other prisoner's bowls), but he was a character that was able and willing to adapt and was one to live with hope. Living in a gulag where one is put under the toughest of conditions, Shukov found hope in the idea of tomorrow.

The way that weather is used in both novels is very similar and produces different effects. In The Outsider, weather is used to fully control the mood of Meursault and it forces him to kill an Arab. However, it helps the reader understand Meursault as a character and sheds light on he acts in ways that he does. By understanding his attuned sensitivity to the weather and not to that which most people derive emotions from, we can come to understand his self-reflection at the end of the novel as one that proves quite nihilistic. Shukov's situation is much different, as he is a slave to the weather, however it his condition (prisoner in a gulag) that creates this enslaved state.

Shukov becomes more and more admirable as the reader progresses through the story as he is one that perserveres and does not give up. Although there are years ahead of futile work and inhumane living conditions, Shukov attempts to make the most of each day. At the end of the novel, "Shukov went to sleep, and he was very happy."