The Plague by Albert Camus
Albert Camus' The Plague, takes place in the desert town of Oran, Algeria, in northern Africa. It is the perfect setting for this story to take place. The ordinariness of Oran is contrasted with the extraordinary business of the plague. Sprintzen points out that "There is a mythic significance of Oran. Given the previous description of the quality of Oranian life, the selection of Oran as the location for the outbreak of plague should not come as a surprise"(Sprintzen 38). In Oran, life for its inhabitants has lost meaning. The plague offers them a chance to give meaning back to their lives. The plot of the story is revealed in five parts, over which we see the characters undergo changes. Through the Oranian's attitudes towards death in The Plague, they go through stages, which leave them with a final hope for life.
As the novel starts, the Oranians are completely unaware of what is happening or what is about to happen around them and therefore cannot possibly be aware of the coming plague. The opening portion describes men's individual actions in a city as yet not officially touched by the plague. Riley believes that "First the people of Oran, and they are not extraordinary in this way, are characterized as making no effort to reach the true nature of each other, and, unaware of the reality of their world and it other inhabitants, they are unfit to become easily aware of the coming plague" (Riley 93). The main focus of every person in Oran is himself. Everyone in Oran wishes to be an individual, to have none of the problems of the rest of the world. Sprintzen observes that "The people don't want to be stuck in the same boat with someone else; each believes one man's problems are his...
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...ue and each Oranian will have somewhat of a new dimension as an individual. Throughout the chronicle Rieux has commented on the townspeople's failure before the plague to attain a more varied, joyous, appreciative sense of life. Now, he sees lovers wishing to slow their new moments into slow motion so as to savor all of its thrill. For the present human love is violently rekindled.
Throughout The Plague we see both the town of Oran ans its citizens change along with various stages of the Plague. It seems to go through stages of unawareness, awareness, death, commitment and life. This way we see a change that occurs from the beginning of the novel from an unawareness of whats happening about them to a new sense for life. While the plague may have destroyed the town and many lives within it, it offers the Oranians a chance to give meaning back to their lives.
It was a village on a hill, all joyous and fun where there was a meadow full of blossomed flowers. The folks there walked with humble smiles and greeted everyone they passed. The smell of baked bread and ginger took over the market. At the playing grounds the children ran around, flipped and did tricks. Mama would sing and Alice would hum. Papa went to work but was always home just in time to grab John for dinner. But Alice’s friend by the port soon fell ill, almost like weeds of a garden that takes over, all around her went unwell. Grave yards soon became over populated and overwhelmed with corpse.
The Eleventh Plague is one of those books you MUST finish in 4 days or less because the story sticks like glue to your mind and you won’t stop theory-crafting until you give in and read it to the end these are reasons why. Eleventh Plague has a well-written plot which is essential to any story and it is back up by the fascinating character development and detailed writing. Eleventh Plague has a great plot. At the start, it shows Stephen and his Father trekking along an abandoned road when suddenly, they spot a Canadian military airplane. It then leads on to show the two of them living in the plane for a few days until a group of slavers also find this plane. Stephens father has a fight with the slavers
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.
The Black Death is one of the deadliest epidemics to ever hit mankind. It is estimated that this epidemic killed nearly 30%-60% of the population depending on the location. Recently, scholars have argued over the existence of the Black Death as a Plague in the form of Yersinia Pestis. Many argue, through scientific research and primary sources, that the Black Death was indeed a plague. Their critics argue that there is not enough evidence in the correlation of the scientific research and the primary sources to conclude that the Black Death was really a plague. The primary source The Black Death, by Rosemary Horrox, is a compilation of different accounts of the plague throughout Europe in the 1300’s. The two modern sources Plague Historians
William H. McNeill makes a monumental contribution to the knowledge of humanity in his book Plagues and Peoples. He looks at the history of the world from an ecological point of view. From this viewpoint the history of human civilization is greatly impacted by changing patterns of epidemic infection. Plagues and Peoples suggests that "the time scale of world history...should [be] viewed [through] the "domestication" of epidemic disease that occurred between 1300 and 1700" (page 232). "Domestication" is perceived "as a fundamental breakthrough, directly resulting from the two great transportation revolutions of that age - one by land, initiated by the Mongols, and one by sea, initiated by Europeans" (page 232). This book illustrates how man's environment and its resident diseases have controlled human migration, as well as societal successes and failures. McNeill discusses the political, demographical, and psychological effects of disease on the human race. He informs his audience that epidemics are still a viable threat to society, and warns of potential future consequences.
Once they finally become aware of it, they must decide what measures they will take to fight the deadly plague.... ... middle of paper ... ... In the long run, not only was the town separated, but so were the people.
"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.
The futile attempts by Oranian people are shown throughout the phenomenon that is the plague. Not once do they completely give up hope, even when it seems like the best course of action is to do so. At the end of the story, the plague does seem to vanish, but not because of the people. Camus’s ingenious usage of irony and the subtle development of the characters effectively supports the idea that man will forever strive to outlast and outwit the absurd. When the plague leaves, and the city is in ruins, the people can actually see for themselves how they’ve changed. The literal plague no longer floods the streets, but with its departure comes the realization that the plague will never truly leave.
Age is just a number, well at least for Stephen Quinn it is. Stephen Quinn is 15 years old, but he does not let his age define who he is. Although Stephen was matured for his age when the plague started, he still had a lot of growing to do. Throughout the novel The Eleventh Plague Stephen is prematurely forced through the journey into adulthood. Stephen had to mentally mature enough to allow himself to open up and trust people. Stephen had to toughen up and become a man and he had to be strong enough to have courage in the worst of times. When he thought it could not get any worse he was hit with something that seemed unsurpassable. He had to suffer the pain of losing his dad to the plague.
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 is created and controlled by the government; June and Day don’t know exactly why they use it, but they do know that it’s a way of making people disappear. The red “x” on doors acts as a symbol of fear that the Republic can use against its own citizens. “The soldier reaches up and sprays one long, red, diagonal line on our door,”(Lu 10). Propaganda is seen in The Giver with the medication that citizens take. The medication takes away many human experiences such as love and the ability to see colors; “‘Well …’ Jonas had to stop and think it through. ‘If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?’”(Lowry 97). By taking these away from people, the government can easily form the minds of citizens and control them by limiting their abilities. Finally, propaganda is more dehumanizing in The Giver because taking away people’s perception and physical abilities leave them as less of a human and more of a mindless robot ordered to stay in line with the
As a Christian speaking to the people of Oran, it would be very difficult to say anything to a people facing such terrible affliction. Even though Father Paneloux believed what he was preaching, I believe he was completely wrong. This would make what I would say much different from what Father Paneloux said. However, some strong points did emerge from his sermons. Overall, the two sermons in Albert Camus’ The Plague fail to help people become more faithful and fail to even preach to the people of Oran the truth.
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...
Albert Camus’s novel The Outsider is a fictional narrative that presents strong philosophical themes such as the irrationality of the universe and meaningless of human life. Throughout the novel it is clear that the narrator and protagonist – a young man named Meursault – is the only character that is able to understand and appreciate these ideas or philosophical truths. It is for this reason that he is an outsider. Accordingly, other social groups, including women, are represented as shallow as they constantly attempt to identify or create rational structure and meaning in their lives – Camus’s notion of absurdity. Women are a social group that show attributes of attachment, hope and ambition all of which in the novel are a futile attempt to impose rationality when none exists. Thus, Camus implies that women are shallow — lacking the deeper understanding of the universe.
...h other or from their situation in general. The optimistic view of the play shows a range of human emotion and the need to share experiences alongside the suffering of finite existence; governed by the past, acting in the present and uncertain of the future.