Albert Camus’s novel The Plague is set in Oran, a French port on the Algerian coast in the 1940s. The reader should also remember that the book is not, per se, a novel; the volume is a chronicle, and thus we should not expect avant garde or impressionistic devices — nothing except, as nearly as possible, a factual account of a plague and the people affected. Exhausted and preoccupied by the fever patients, he agrees to drop by and discuss a matter with Cottard concerning something about which Cottard is irritatingly vague. (Camus 44) Rieux stays, faces his fear of death, and stays altruistic to fill the duty of being a doctor. Nature seems indifferent to the mushrooming fungus of destruction. Because of fear? Rieux considers: none of these people matter, yet such a major tragedy as plague — what possible reason could there be for its singling out Oran? Lebesque, Richard. Language is living. Oran is not the typical Mediterranean town described in guidebooks as having a "delightfully sunny complexion and charming little balconies overhanging narrow streets, with delightful glimpses of shady courtyards." While The Plague is a tale of absurdist philosophy, it is also a novel with living characters and a deeply human story, and Camus’ writing is potent in its imagery of suffering, despair, and courage. And outside nature is serenely blue, brilliantly golden. He has tried suicide and recovered. of the past? The plague in question afflicted Oran in the 1940'2; and on one plane the book is a straightforward narrative. 9782806270160 29 EBook Plurilingua Publishing This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Plague by Albert Camus. Like the sudden relief from the rats before the plague sets in, the patients all seem to take a turn for the better just before their death struggles. A man only begins living, according to Camus, when he announces in advance his own death to himself and realizes the consequences. Just as any rebellion against death and suffering is ultimately futile, so do the anti-plague efforts seem to make little difference in the relentless progress of the epidemic. He is somewhat of an oddity in Tarrou's album of sketches. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. And if fatality is wretched normally, imagine what discomfort will be encountered during the pages of this long chronicle of death. Dr. Bernard Rieux The surgeon — narrator of The Plague.. Jean Tarrou The best friend of Rieux.His notebooks are used as part of the chronicle. Death is a "discomfort." The Plague by Albert Camus Analysis (I) “The only picture I carried away with me of that day’s proceedings was a picture of the criminal. Rieux, as narrator, castigates the townspeople for their stupidity and frivolity, these people who refuse to conjure and consider consequences. It will be artificial and devoid of that vital flush of life that separates an artist from a craftsman. A snail's pace is exactly the tempo that the town has taken concerning the investigation of the curious fever deaths. Consider, too, the scene in which Cottard's suicide motive was discussed. The other doctors refuse to draw conclusions or make an attempt to consider the cases. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of “The Plague” by Albert Camus. This is, in a sense, what Camus is doing in the opening scenes of The Plague. The recognition of the plague as a collective concern allows them to break the gap of alienation that has characterized their existence. The atmosphere is as oppressive as a sickroom. 559. Tarrou, besides liking musicians, sees Oran as a town built of physical ugliness and of a sterile commercial spirit. The Plague Summary. The Plague literature essays are academic essays for citation. Perhaps Camus' several years of newspaper writing were the genesis of this style or helped formulate his ideas concerning the need for careful, documented truthfulness. Camus has swollen Cottard into major proportions in this last chapter of Part 1; later the man will merit even more consideration. His hopes for a natural cessation of the plague are of course futile. Albert Camus: The Plague - Summary and Commentary from an Existentialist and Humanist Point of View Bubonic plague is a disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. In his 1947 novel, The Plague, Albert Camus tells the riveting story of the quarantined city of Oran, Algeria, that suffers a vicious outbreak of the plague.The plague increasingly and randomly kills the young and the old, the rich and the poor. In his volume of essays, The Myth of Sisyphus, published five years before The Plague, he says that contrasts between the natural and the extraordinary, the individual and the universal, the tragic and the everyday are essential ingredients for the absurd work. His coming-to-terms with whatever has invaded Oran must be accomplished soon, but with reason and observation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Plague. The doctor patiently fights the plague, but is often confused about his duty: he, as the doctor, is supposed to save people, but in the case of plague, he just has a chance to isolate them from the healthy ones, and record their death. And a snail's shell of indifference and ignorance is hiding the townspeople and even Rieux's colleagues from the truth. I have little doubt he was guilty, of … Being poor, Grand is not charged for the doctor's visits. Rieux's initial acceptance of the plague is a major scene in this first section, and as relief from this tension Chapter 5 briefly changes the pace. This inconsequentiality, however — isn't this, in a broad sense, definitive of Oran? He has fought throughout this chapter for official resolutions to help just such people. Is it, however, Grand who has admirable feelings toward his fellow men or is it Rieux? Albert Camus's novel The Plague is about an epidemic of bubonic plague that takes place in the Al-gerian port city of Oran.When the plague first arrives, the residents are slow to recognize the mortal danger they are in. and any corresponding bookmarks? The citizens of Oran become prisoners of the plague when their city falls under total quarantine, but it is questionable whether they were really "free" before the plague. 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