Albert Camus The Plague

The Black Death, one of the deadliest plagues in world history, engraved a wide swath of cataclysmic damage and inflicted a large loss of life. Discriminating against no one, it claimed the lives of the lower class and the gentry, the young and the old. Albert Camus’s novel, The Plague, illustrates the effects of and the responses to a plague that strikes the Algerian city of Oran. The allegorical representations and actions of five central characters in the novel, Dr. Bernard Rieux, Jean Tarrou, Raymond Rambert, Cottard, and Father Panaloux, all capture the impact of disease on human society. Indeed, The Plague demonstrates that one must acknowledge the constraints of human existence, yet still engage in struggle in spite of inevitable failure. The
Tarrou is, undoubtedly, more philosophical because he does not believe that death has a moral meaning. As Tarrou recounts to Dr. Rieux, when Tarrou’s father condemns a criminal to the death penalty in court, Tarrou becomes increasingly conscious of his own mortality. He realizes that one can only gain meaning by partaking in the struggle against death, and in this case, the suffering caused by the plague. Thus, he questions the inactions of the previous administration against the plague and implements new health and sanitation measures, including the creation of voluntary “sanitary squads.” In addition, he, along with Dr. Rieux, recognizes the importance of official statistics, such as the marking of death tolls, and thus, chronicles the events of the plague as they unfold. Similarly, Dr. Rieux is one of the first people to call for action against the plague once he realizes the urgency of the situation. As an altruist, Rieux believes that “the only means of righting a plague is … common decency.” Thus, Dr. Rieux aids in the anti-plague endeavour for the sole goal of helping the community. He understands the limits of human existence because of the futility of his efforts against such a
This instance is the first in which Panaloux truly faces the idea of mortality. He can no longer make excuses about the plague in a world of abstraction, particularly with the concrete deaths of innocents that surround him. Truthfully, he does realize, if subconsciously, that man can only depend on man, and thus, he joins in the battle against the plague by tending to the sick. Panaloux even modifies his previous outlook on the plague, coming dangerously close to heresy when he states that everyone must “believe everything or deny everything.” He desperately tries to present the Church as a beacon of hope, even as he faces the fruitlessness of this endeavour. Furthermore, Father Panaloux’s desperation to reconcile his religious beliefs emanates when he contracts a mysterious disease that he refuses to get treated. Contrary to Tarrou, who boldly fights against death when he is diagnosed with two strands of the plague, Panaloux dies passively, clinging to his hollow beliefs as he loses confidence in humankind. While Tarrou’s death brings him peace, Panaloux is rendered a “doubtful case,” which emphasizes