The Plague

Title is The Plague. Author is Albert Camus. Date of Publication is June 1947. Genre is Philosophical Fiction.



Author Biographical Information
Albert Camus was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His experiences in Algeria were a huge influence in his works. He was the age of twenty five when he went to France. Camus retired from political journalism in 1947, but kept writing. He was active in the theatre as a producer and playwright. Since he was a child, Albert Camus has always loved theatre.

Sources:http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bio.html

Setting: Historical Information
The book is set in Oran, Algeria. It’s located in the northwestern corner of Africa. It is the second largest city of the country. Oran was founded in 903 by Moorish Andalusia traders. Spanish reign lasted until 1708, when the city was conquered by the Ottomans. King Charles IV sold the city to Turks.

Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oran

Genre
It refers to works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to philosophy. It would include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, etc.

Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_fiction

Plot Summary
It basically starts when a bunch of rats everywhere die. Then there was a young reporter named Raymond Rambert who’s sniffing about town for a story. Rats stop dying and people start dying. It was caused by the plague, but no one wants to call it that, so the authorities keep lying as more people die. Dr. Rieux and his colleagues Dr. Richard and Dr. Castel annoy the authorities into taking action, it backfires and the town is now quarantined from the rest of the world. More people keep on dying. Rambert tries to get himself out of Oran, but the authorities aren’t falling for anything. A priest delivers a homily stating that the plague is everyone’s fault and they all deserve this suffering. Tarrou decides that he’s had enough of death and suffering, so he meets with Rieux and convinces the doctor to help him gather volunteers to fight the plague. Rambert wants to illegally escape Oran with the help of a criminal and they start planning. He feels guilty and decides to join the team of helpers. But still continues to plan. The plague is still in Oran. Fewer people are dying. Oran’s gates are opened and Rambert is reunited with his wife.

Sources:http://www.shmoop.com/plague-camus/summary.html and the book The Plague

Characters
Dr. Bernard Rieux is the protagonist. He goes out day after day in the midst of a deadly infection to save lives while risking his own in a dashing display of heroism. He is heroic, humble, and caring.

The Plague is the antagonist. The plague kills anything it can. It is hated by everybody. Difficult to stop. Makes everyone’s life harder. It is deadly, infectious, and difficult.

Jean Tarrou is a guide mentor. Tarrou implicitly guides the doctor. Tarrou is the one to instigate the volunteer teams; he is the one to incite Rieux to fight against the plague. He is condemned, aware, and guilty.

Joseph Grand is the would-be hero of the Plague of Oran. He is the type to always survive the plague, since rumor has it that the plague seeks out the strong and spares the weak. He is lovable, incompetent, and powerless.

Raymond Rambert is the growing character. He grows and develops throughout the course of The Plague. Through his conversations with Rieux he becomes enlightened and gains necessary intellectual inspiration. He is self-proclaimed, growing, and enlightened.

Cottard is the criminal. He doesn’t feel guilt at his crime; so much as he is nervous about being caught. He makes friends with people that he thinks may someday serve him well as character witnesses. He is careless, smart, and fearful.

Father Paneloux is the priest. He cries out, in the midst of Jacques’ suffering, "My God, spare this child!" He learns about death and how horrifying it is. He is calm, steady, and doubtful.

Sources: http://www.shmoop.com/plague-camus/characters.html

Author's Style
Albert Camus’s style of writing is very descriptive. He writes words that seem childish and easy to understand. On the other hand he uses words that are expressive and profound. “The town itself, let us admit, is ugly. It has a smug, placid air and you need time to discover what it is that makes it different from so many business centers in other parts of the world.” It shows description of the town that’s easy to understand.

Sources: The Plague

Setting
The book is set in Oran, Algeria. It’s located in the northwestern corner of Africa. It is the second largest city of the country.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oran

Themes
Mortality- Everyone is forced to live as though their life may be snatched from them at any moment.

Suffering- We watch how characters react to, cope with, and learn from hardship. The world is indifferent to the irrational suffering of man.

Duty- Characters deal with emotional, legal, moral, ethical, and religious duty in The Plague. Most interesting, however, is the distinction between common decency and heroism.

Sources: http://www.shmoop.com/plague-camus/themes.html

Symbols
Rats- The rats symbolize death due to the plague but it also represents the people dying everywhere.

Weather- the plague and its spread are linked to the weather. When it is hot, the disease gets worse. When it is cold, the disease gets better. It doesn’t really make sense.

The Red Robes- the red robes that his father, the prosecutor, wears while condemning a man to death. Besides the obvious red = blood stuff. It symbolizes being condemned.

War Imagery- Oran is similar to a war zone after the outbreak of the plague. The mass graves and even the vehicle that rattles through the town like a machine gun all contribute to the feeling that Oran is at war.

Sources: http://www.shmoop.com/plague-camus/symbolism-imagery.html

Significance of the Opening/Closing Scenes
The significance of the opening scene is that the rats are dying all over the place and people didn’t know why. Then the rats stopped dying and people started dying. People started to get scared. The significance of the closing scene is that the plague is still in Oran, but not that many people are dying anymore. Fewer people are dying. Oran isn’t closed off from the rest of the world and Rambert is reunited with his wife.

Sources: The Plague

Memorable Quotes
“The town itself, let us admit, is ugly. It has a smug, placid air and you need time to discover what it is that makes it different from so many business centers in other parts of the world.” (pg.3)

Albert Camus uses imagery in this quote by using words such as ugly, smug, placid air, and business centers to help us put an image in our head of a really dirty city.

“But others have died,”Rieux observed, “And obviously contagion is never absolute; otherwise you’d have a constant mathematical progression and the death-rate would rocket up catastrophically. It’s not a question of painting too black a picture. It’s a question of taking precautions.” (pg.49)

Camus uses foreshadowing to foretell the event of death when he used the words death-rate would rocket up catastrophically, and taking precautions.

“But then the sound of hurried footsteps came again. Rieux was already halfway down the stairs, and when he stepped out into the street two men brushed past him.” (pg.105)

He also uses imagery by using the words hurried, already, and brushed. This lets the reader imagine people walking with haste.

“The doctor tossed his head impatiently. So does every ill that flesh is heir to. What’s true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well.” (pg.125)

Camus uses a certain tone in this part of the book when you saw the word impatiently. From there, you could tell that he wasn’t talking in a normal voice anymore. He was using a tone of voice that showed annoyance.

“At my age one’s got to be sincere. Lying’s too much effort.” (pg.207)

The author uses implication of this guy being lazy when you saw the words too much effort.

Sources: The Plague