The Artist at work by Albert Camus

a short reaction

      As the reporter for this topic, i wasn't able to get the whole idea and concept of the story. It's a little bit confusing because when you read it for the first time, all you get is a simple story of how a painter booms his way to success without even much effort and his martyr lover who supported him all the way, with the success has finally reached its peak, Jonas is soon declining, and at the end of the story, he'll realize what he's been missing. It's the same story you hear over and over, but what aggravates me is how can this be a philosophy? what's in the mind of Albert Camus for creating this story? what is he trying to point out? Because of its simplicity, Camus used words that are frank, simple and really! nothing special and deep. It tells you right away the story line. BUT!!!! then reading it again, something came bugging.....

     what's with the STAR???


    and what's with his canvas only written with the word 'SOLIDARY' or 'SOLITARY'? "but without any certainty as to whether it should be read solidary or solitary" that's what it was written in the last part....

then, i just realized, what the hell is this STAR??? at first, i thought is was Jonas' faith, his faith i his own abilities or maybe his own self.....that's at first....

then when i searched for the meaning of the STAR, there's none, all they are trying to explain is how he doesn't believe much in his star and was being compared to Jonah, a biblical character......

     Jonah believed in his GOD, Jonas believed in his STAR......there's the hint!!!!! still i got the same results of my own, Jonas' own faith...... 

     After much headache and a very frustrating me, because i really can't seem to understand what's this STAR really.....all they say about the story...you will miss it but you won't miss it

yeah, i kind of understand that....i didn't miss anything, i've read it thoroughly but still, what am i missing?

then our Philosophy professor explained it to us after our report...this STAR is equivalent to...






LUCK!!!!




   what's up with that??? that's when i finally understood that, what others meant by Jonah believes in his own GOD and Jonas believes in his own STAR..Jonas believes in his own luck.......what was meant in here that, Jonas didn't believe it was his own effort, all the things that's happening to him was all because he thinks he is only lucky....

how could i miss it?? i understand now why they keep saying you will miss it but you won't miss it...everytime something good happens to Jonas, he always have this statement of reply "it's just luck"

so here is what Albert Camus wants us to know.....that everything that is happening, all the things, its because of our OW EFFORT, not by luck or anything, not because we get help from God, some people or some LUCK....yeah, Albert Camus is an existentialist and an Atheist...sorry but i still believe in my God, but i also believe in my own effort...


so that explains the STAR, but what about the SOLIDARY and SOLITARY???

first before that, in the story, Jonas locked himself up in a dark room working all day and night, without eating anything....and then finally his body gave in and collapse, nothing bad happened to him, he just overworked himself, but what's funny is that, all the weeks his been locking himself up, everyone thought he was working with some very big masterpiece...but all this time, its only a black canvas with a word inscribes that can't be read as SOLIDARY or SOLITARY.....

for my own opinion, i think that time, he was thinking deeply, maybe realizing things what he's been missing about.....yeah, he is missing alot.......


now for the meaning of those two...after much research of the meaning, SOLIDARY means interdependent, and SOLITARY means independent...


INTERDEPENDENT- relating to two or more people or things dependent on each other
INDEPENDENT-  not dependent on anything else

Jonas rise and fall.....

its rather a sad story because Jonas was miserable.
it was said that the story is a bit of how Camus life was,

     the summary of the story:
          The Artist at Work, is a corrosively witty account of the rise and fall of a minor talent. Gilbert Jonas is a modest Parisian painter who trusts his "star." A dealer discovers him and he is beset by fame. New friends while away his afternoons "begging Jonas to go on working . . . for they weren't Philistines and knew the value of an artist's time." Disciples appear, but not to learn anything ("one became a disciple for the disinterested pleasure of teaching one's master"). At the height of his fame, poor Jonas poses for a portrait of the artist at work, but he himself no longer has the time or spirit to paint. Cognac consoles him with the illusion of creativity, and girls with the illusion of vitality. After that, Jonas' decline is swift, sure and touching. Dying, he scribbles one word on a blank canvas, but no one can be sure "whether it should be read solitary or solidary"


well, he didn't actually die, but well, the story i think is dark and sad, but can really give you a moral lesson:

     its not about the help of something that's gonna bring you success, its with your own effort....you can achieve anything by your OWN.......








by Theresa Claire Q. Lopena