The Black Death Plague Analysis

The world has known plagues throughout history. It comes, stays, wipes out most of the population in an area, then leaves and stays dormant until it is able to replicate itself. The Black Death is known as one of the worst plagues in the history of the world. Alas, Albert Camus is not writing about a real plague nor does he care about explaining the Black Death or any of its predecessors. Malcolm Jones describes Camus’ purpose, “Camus is not interested in explaining bubonic plague. He only cares about exploring its effect on a population and most particularly on their responses” (2). Camus is only concerned with how the plague changes the people of Oran. Oran is the perfect city for a plague because of not only its location, but the type of

“The plague is lethal but it has no rationale. It is a force as opaque as it is deadly” (Jones 1). The plague has no reason for who it kills and who it affects, it cares to survive. Death knows no boundaries as long as the body alive, the plague will eat away at it until death comes and takes its place. “It seemed that, for obvious reasons, the plague launched its most virulent attacks on those who lived, by choice or by necessity, in groups: soldiers, prisoners, monks, and nuns” (Plague 169). Camus is describing that no matter who they are or what rank in society they are, the plague does not care, neither does death. Their wealth or good deeds cannot be avoided. Father Paneloux, Tarrou and Rieux pay witness to the grip of the plague on a little boy. Step by step they watch as he convulses and writhes in pain. The serum is no help to the boy. Soon the life is sucked from him and he goes limp, finally in peace. The men had seen death in plague patients before, but not like this. Never had they seen it from infantry. The boy’s death forever alters them, knowing that he was innocent and did not deserve the cruel ending he was given. The plague’s death count rapidly rises each day. The amount of dead bodies per day becomes a game of Tetris to find a spot to put them. The cemeteries are full and overflowing. They are taking up bodies from old graves and cremating them to make room for plague victims. Past curfew is the time to bury the bodies because doing it during the daytime would create a public spectacle, although, “The few belated wayfarers...often saw the long white ambulances hurtling past, making the nightbound streets reverberate with the dull clanger of their bells” (Plague 177). Ambulances are limitless hearses to the countless dead bodies. The townsfolk are used to this new routine the plague brought to them: death and more death. For them the ending is so far away