As any educated reader is probably aware of, the plague was a disease which at the current time had no remedy or cure, and this novel chronicles life during “194-“(Camus 1) in northern Algeria while the bubonic plague was spreading. As well, in this novel Camus refers to other historical events, the holocaust being one, in which he mentions the cremation of bodies, and the way they were disposed of in piles. The other is the French occupation of Algeria in which he talks about the injustice the people had suffered in this time. In Albert Camus’ The Plague, power and the abuse of power are a dominant theme, Camus, through this novel shows that those in a position of power take advantage of it and how that an inanimate entity like …show more content…
The first instance of this is when the sanitary squad, which was the group formed in order to fight the plague, tried to save Mme. Othon’s son, “But then, suddenly, the other sufferers fell silent. And now the doctor grew aware that the child’s wail, after weakening more and more, had fluttered out into silence … For it was over. Castel had moved round to the other side of the bed and said the end had come” (Camus 217). The plague took the life of a boy, who had just began to live life. But this boy had done nothing wrong, and the plague had no way of knowing this, it only followed what it had known to do, which was infect and kill. It has no sense of caring who it kills, for even the man who helped to try and fight the plague, Tarrou, had contracted the plague himself and died, “And thus, when the end came, the tears that blinded Rieux’s were of impotence; and he did not see Tarrou roll over, face to the wall, and die with a short, hollow groan as if somewhere within him an essential chord had snapped” (289). The plague had the power to kill anyone, and so it took any chance it had to display its ability to kill. When the sanitary squad was formed, this team sought to fight the plague and in a sense demonstrated higher standing than the regular citizens, “Next Day Tarrou set to work and enrolled a first team of workers, soon to be followed by many others” (131). Even though the people who are in these groups are regular citizens, they are seen as heroes even though all they are doing is something that is considered ethically right. However due to the current standings of the citizens, they are seen as higher up and in a better position, but the plague did not care for this, it infected anyone, even those who were doing their civil duty and doing what they felt was right. The plague also was impartial
Roos, Anna Marie E. "Plague, Early History." Infectious Diseases: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 627-634. In Context Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Despite all, their love was not strong enough to fight against the plague. They had prayed every night for help for Alice, but shortly they all fell ill. Together they experienced nausea and violently vomited. They began to swell; hard, painful, burning lumps on their neck, arms and thighs then appeared. Their bumps had turned black, split open and began to ooze yellow, thick puss and blood. They were decaying on the inside; anything that would come out of their bodies would contain blood and soon puddles of blood formed under their skin. They slowing withered away together. The home became repulsing; the flowers in their yard could no longer mask the smells of their rotting bodies and revolting bodily fluids. Alice was the first to leave, then John, Mama, and Papa followed. Together they all fell victim to the Black Plague.
The interesting concept of the absurd hero is classically presented by the author, Albert Camus in many of his novels, including The Plague. An absurd hero is a person who does what he has to do regardless of whether or not he can control that situation. Dr. Rieux, a physician in the plagued town, for example, still performs his job daily and just as diligent as he ever has, instead of caving in to the worry and fear that his town experiences because of this widespread epidemic. Camus uses this concept of the absurd hero to develop the four main characters, Tarrou, Rambert, Grand, but especially Dr. Bernard Rieux.
Amid the feverish horror of rampant sickness and death, The Plague is a parable of human remoteness and the struggle to share existence. In studying the relationships which Camus sets forth, the relationship between man and lover, mother and son, healer and diseased, it can be seen that the only relationship Camus describes is that between the exiled, and the kingdom for which he searches with tortured longing.
When the rats show up in the beginning, even after they have been around for a while, no one seems to care. In the early stages of the plague things seem to go down as usual, After sometime, the citizens of Oran start to get anxious and everyone begins to feel the sting of exile and separation. Death ensues and begins claiming victims of the plague.
An unknown eye witness accounts details of the immediate stress the plague brought to Europe. "Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying.
Works Cited Camus, Albert. A. The Plague. Trans. Stuart Gilbert.
In Panopticism by Michel Foucault, Foucault discusses the measures to be taken when the plague appeared in a town. He talked in death about the abnormal individuals that were stricken with the plague and the individuals were lepers and excluded from society. Strict partitioning occurred during the plague, the towns closed and individuals who attempted or left the town were sentenced to death. Stray animals were killed and the town was divided into districts that were governed independently. The syndic was in charge of the quarantine and would walk around to lock the door of each house form the outside (Foucault 282). The plague resulted in a need for order and aimed for a disciplined community. It was important, at this time, to measure and supervise the abnormal individuals. Anyone could become sick and become abnormal. And in this case, abnormal was extremely dangerous to other individuals in the community. Also separated from society were lepers. The leper gave rise to rituals of exclusion (Foucault 284). The aim of separating the lepers was to create a pure community. There was ...
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
The plague affected people not only on a physical level but a mental one as well. The mental health of the citizens of Oran was amongst the plague's many victims, it suffered of exhaustion as well as being forced to handle mental confrontations. When the citizens dealt with these issues, some people lost their capacity to love as intently, but overall the general capacity of people to uphold their devotion remained resilient to the challenges the plague provided.
"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.
Character development in The Plague plays a significant role in illustrating the way that man will endure against an incomparable being or force. In this case, the plague. The people of Oran have an understanding, though an indefinite one, of the power of the plague because Dr. Rieux publicly accepts the situation. Rieux makes it clear that he plans to “get busy with [the plague]” (89), but “[he] knew: that this wasn’t the easiest course” (89). In other words, Dr. Rieux us fully aware that he is up against something much stronger than himself. However, he is intent on combating the plague. Dr. Rieux, however, does not represent all of the people. Not all of the people are immediately awake to the fact that the plague is a force to be reckoned with. Because a majority of them do not know the true power of the plague, they have no desire to counteract the early stages of the disease. Without knowing the actual severity of the situation, “the risk of the plague seemed insignificant” (70) to them. The overall nonchalant attitude of the citi...
Think of a North America without electricity, no running water, no government, almost no buildings left intact, and ravaged by a Chinese manufactured plague, even though it’s hard to imagine that's what happened in Jeff Hirsch’s The Eleventh Plague. In Jeff Hirsch’s Eleventh Plague a family made up of the Dad, Mom, Grandfather, and son are trying to survive in a North America ravaged by a Chinese Plague , But then the mom and grandpa die and dad and Stephen are left on their own, but when the dad gets injured running away from some slavers, A Town named Settlers Landing that seems too good to be true takes them in. Then Stephen befriends a girl named Jenny, and when they play a prank that sends Jenny, and when they play a prank that sends the town into chaos. A war is started and it is up to them to help stop it. I thought that The Eleventh Plague was a believable piece of Speculative Fiction because of Hirsch's use of elements of Conflict, Theme, and Red Herrings.
The Plague by Albert Camus takes place in an Algerian city known as Oran. Rats that are infected with a vicious disease known as “the plague” invade the city and nearly wipe out half of the population. This disease takes a toll on the citizens of Oran, which make them turn on each other and for some, they question the existence of God. Religion plays a huge roll in The Plague and Camus speaks through his characters and incorporates his views on religion. Camus uses Father Paneloux, the priest in the city, to argue whether or not God is the reason for this chaos.
In the novel, the people of Oran are ignorant and selfish by thinking that a fatal plague or epidemic would never harm them. When it does though, everyone goes ballistic and can’t understand why it is happening to them. Dr. Rieux is one of the main people that decided to do something about it. He is a doctor that sees some of the first signs of the plague early on. Being one of the first that acknowledges the problem as a plague came with disagreements amongst everyone. No one believed that there was a plague in their city and couldn’t recognize that they were all in serious danger. As days go by and the death toll increases dramatically, the ci...