The First Man is an autobiographical text by Albert Camus. As the book opens up, the protagonist Jacques Cormery is forty years old and searching for information about his late father. While visiting his father’s grave, he learns that his father died at twenty-nine years old. Jacques is deeply saddened after realizing that his father died in his youth. The narrative then shifts to a poverty-stricken village named Solferino, Algeria where Jacques was born. His father Henri died in the war in France one year after Jacques was born. Lucie who is partially deaf and mute was left to raise their child alone.
After visiting his father’s grave, Jacques goes back to Algeria, where he was born and raised. As he makes his way through the neighborhood he recalls moments in his childhood. He remembers asking about his father and the poor living conditions; life was hard. However, he also recalls moments when he was happy, playing with other kids, swimming on the beach, and causing trouble with other neighborhood boys.
Jacques’s grandmother Lucie was the disciplinarian in the house. She was very strict, especially with Jacques’s education. He was a bright child and, despite his poor background, he worked hard in school and got a scholarship to a prestigious school. There he felt isolated since other students came from rich families hence could not relate to his experiences.
As the book concludes, Jacques grows into a caring, sensitive, mature man. He is also at peace with his past. Jacques realizes that living in poverty and growing up without a father has shaped him into the man he is now. He is the First Man.
