Point of View

The Fall is the story of Jean-Baptiste Clamence's life in Paris, prior to his moving to Amsterdam. Clamence tells his story in the first person to an anonymous companion. In fact, everyone but Clamence is anonymous in The Fall. The text reads like an unbroken monologue, moving from one subject to the next with Clamence the main character at all times. This format is indicative of Clamence's egotistical, narcissistic personality.

Setting

The Fall takes place against a few different backgrounds, each of which possesses its own distinct resonance. First, there is the Mexico City, a squalid bar in which Clamence awaits displaced Europeans, who he then leads through the ultimately demoralizing story of his life. Outside the bar is Amsterdam proper, the overall portrait of which is grim. Clamence compares the city's canals to the concentric circles of Dante's Inferno and, indeed, drawing from this description...