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Oran: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Oran, peaceful and unprepared, is overcome by Bubonic plague.
Separation, isolation and indigence become the common lot of distinct characters whose actions, thoughts and feelings constitute a dynamic story of man imprisoned. Prior to the closing, people went about their business as usual, almost oblivious to the plague. When Oran was shut off from the world, its residents had to adapt to the new conditions of life. Men reacted to the terrible visitation in different ways, according to their beliefs and characters.
I believe their reactions were based on their personality and their experience during the plague. Each react to the circumstances of the plague in a unique way, and emerge from the plague with his own new perspective of life and its values.
The residents of Oran are as travelers on a long, straight, boring road.
They came upon the plague as a traveler comes upon an unexpected fork in the road. Some veer left, some right. A few are unaffected by (or unaware of) the fork in the road, and proceed straight ahead with their lives with very little change in habit. These persons lift themselves above the desperation and focus their actions on the grueling responsibility of making life better for themselves and others.
The greatest affliction the citizens of Oran suffer when visited by the plague is not fear but the sense of separation, the loneliness of exile, the pain of imprisonment. The plague has an affect on most everyone in Oran. Some become better people, some worse. Grand, Rambert and Paneloux are all markedly changed afterward. Dr. Rieux and Tarrou are virtually unaffected. Cottard undergoes but a temporary metamorphosis.
Monsieur Cottard is a criminal hunted by the law. A silent, secretive, plump little man, he comes to Oran to hide from prosecution. M. Cottard is basically a man lacking in morals, drive and direction, a, " a traveling salesman in wines and spirits."
He tries unsuccessfully to hang himself when life seems hopeless. Prior to the plague, he had an aloofness and mistrusted everyone. When the plague descends upon the city, he develops an altruistic side. He sets out to help people. He becomes more amiable as the plague progressed through the population.
He tries to take control of his life but becomes discouraged by circumstances.
Rather than dealing with the circumstances effectively, he allows them to dominate his life. When the plague passes, and his philanthropic efforts are outmoded, he looses his humanitarian side and starts randomly shooting. The plague gave him only a temporary suspension from prosecution and the plague had
It started with a headache. Then, death. The Plague, a severe epidemic that caused the death of millions, received varying replies from varying peoples. Many interpretations were made, and differing actions occurred based on these explanations, religious or non-religious, some more severe than not. Christians often turned the blame on others, while the majority of the Muslims decided that there really was no reason to associate other peoples with the cause of the Great Plague (Documents 8 & 10). While there are generalizations, responses to this catastrophe are different depending on religion and world views.
After the plague in the city of Halesowen, “82% of the plague-vacated holdings were taken up by new tenants within the year.” For those young, new people, the plague gave rise to opportunities to fit into the privileged tenant class. “However, the recurring outbreaks of the plague reminded survivors that all earthly delights will inevitably come to an end. Images in churches functioned to remind people of their own perishability.”...
Through the eyes of Boccaccio, plague in the City of Florence due has formed three basic forms of social groups. First, there were people who believed that "a sober and abstemious mode of living considerably reduced the risk of infection" therefore they lived in isolation from the rest of the people (Boccaccio 7).
This would be an example of the bloodshed and unrest that Ibn Khaldun talks about in his letter in Discovering the Global Past. The Christians also believe that a big part of the reason the plague is started is because God wants to punish his people for all the continuous fighting that is happening. As the plague becomes worse and worse they fear that this is another one of God’s punishments on mankind comparable to the Great Flood in the Old
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.
These theories would create a change in the people’s belief system while the scientific minds of the time under the leadership of the King would argue that the black plague was a result of stars aligning or a polluted fog that would eventually clear up. Because the doctors had blamed the plague on a polluted fog, their remedy was to prevent the fog. Initially they would burn fires to prevent misting or fogs and they would also use incense to decrease the chance of catching the disease. As we have done in modern times, they were also warned against eating meats or certain types of fruits, recommend against bathing in public places and, or having sex. Another method used was to bleed the patients in order to draw the toxin out of the blood. Although many Christians had become disgruntled at the lack of answers from their priests, many continued to turn to the church for a cure, they would pray to God to end through practicing a very extreme religious sacrifice such as self-flagellation and the persecuting of the Jewish people, who at the time seemed to be immune from the black plague. Those who survived the plague suffered from an identity crisis in their faith. Instead of a deeper understanding of their faith many resented their church leaders because the lack of answers and assistance. Even
...scoveries were made despite the adversary faced by the people, particularly in the medical field. The generations following the age of the plague have benefitted, to an extent, from the goodness that has stemmed from such an evil.
Lastly, the change in spirituality was one of the major effects of the plague. The Black Death left survivors mourning, depressed, and fearful of its return.
Around 1347-1348 the most well-known epidemic struck the European world. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death or the Black Plague, rained sickness over millions; for most people, death was the only end to the sickness. The Black Death is known as one of the most depressing occurrences in history. It attacked the three most important aspects of a person’s well-being, their mental, emotional and physical health. While the plague impacted early society, authors, Jean de Venette and Giovanni Boccaccio, described the epidemic in their own words. Modern author, Charles L. Mee Jr., describes the plague with the scientific knowledge he has living in today’s society. These three authors wrote about the bubonic plague with their own voice’s and reasoning’s but many of the accounts they mention are similar to one another. Jean de Venette, Giovanni Boccaccio and Charles L. Mee Jr. explain the symptoms, the causes and the way people acted because of the black plague.
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.
There is a lot to prove that Paneloux first sermon contains a lot of bad ideas. Even though God does bring His wrath out on the world a lot in the Bible, the plague is mos...
Since Plagues and Peoples covers several subjects of knowledge, he helps the reader understand key concepts by fully explaining parasitism and its dependence on humans and animals. People in the field of history, which make up a majority of this books audience, would need more insight into epidemiology to grasp its key concepts. It would not be likely for a historian to be knowledgeable in a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in populations.
of the gods. Once the Greeks knew the cause of the plague, they would do
The site MedicineNet.com confirmed that, “The plague once was a very deadly epidemic that started in Cenral Asia and spread all throughout the countries of Europe.” In the times that it spread the plague mostly killed anybody that got in the way of it. The plague was spread by any animal that had fleas.The author Joseph Byrne stated that, “The rats contracted the disease by getting it from other little creatures such as fleas, then the fleas would travel jumping onto other animals giving them the disease and eventually giving the people of Asia and through Europe the disease which ultimately had consequences.” During the time of the plague people didn’t know what to do, because they have never seen such a disease killing over thousands of people at a time. Also it didn’t help that the people had no
Lapaire, Pierre J. "The Plague: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.