The First Man Characters & Character Analysis

The First Man Characters

Jacques Cormery

Jacques Cormery is the novel version of Albert Camus. He is an Algerian man in search of information about his deceased father. As the book opens in 1913, Jacques is born in a small village in Algeria. His father names him after an Arab woman who helps deliver him. The father dies in war in France when Jacques is less than a year old. Forty years later, Jacques goes on a quest to find out about Henri.

Jacques feels guilty because his father died at twenty-nine, but he is forty years old. This saddens him. Up until this point, he does not feel emotion toward his father. Unlike Henri, Jacques expresses emotion. He tells his dear friend, Victor, that he loves him and that Victor has taught him everything he knows. Jacques also vividly details his childhood throughout the...
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