The Plague (novel)
- For other uses, see Plague (disambiguation).
The Plague (fr. La Peste) is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that tells the story of medical workers finding solidarity in their labour as the Algerian city of Oran is swept by a plague. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny and the human condition. The characters in the book, ranging from doctors to vacationers to fugitives, all help to show the effects the plague has on a populace.
Generally taken as a metaphoric treatment of the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II, The Plague is interpreted to mean much more. Camus uses extreme hardships (e.g., pain, suffering, and death) to represent our human world. The story is largely told through a recounting of Dr. Rieux's journal (also using Tarrou's accounts), whose decidedly existential account of events in the story is not only helpful in exploring the philosophy of existentialism, but also in making this a metaphor of the nature of life and suffering. Although his approach in the book is severe, he emphasizes the ideas that we ultimately have no control, irrationality of life is inevitable, and he further illustrates the human reaction towards the ‘absurd’. The Plague represents how the world deals with the philosophical notion of the Absurd, a theory which Camus himself helped to define.
Characters
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References to other works
In the first part of The Plague, Rieux overhears a conversation concerning a man being shot on a beach. This is in all probability a reference to The Stranger, in which a man is shot on a beach. While Camus gave no opinion of the act in The Stranger itself, in the conversation the participants seem to have an entirely negative view of the subject -- as well they should.
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