JULY 30: CAMUS THE PLAGUE

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1 JULY 30: CAMUS THE PLAGUE 1. Describe in detail the impact the plague crisis had on the general population of Oran. What regulations were implemented? What impact did the crisis have on people? - cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of Oran's population - thousands of rats, initially unnoticed by the populace, begin to die in the streets. A hysteria develops soon afterward, causing the local newspapers to report the incident. Authorities responding to public pressure order the collection and cremation of the rats, unaware that the collection itself was the catalyst for the spread of the bubonic plague. - The town is sealed off. The town gates are shut, rail travel is prohibited, and all mail service is suspended. The use of telephone lines is restricted only to "urgent" calls, leaving short telegrams as the only means of communicating with friends or family outside the town. The separation affects daily activity and depresses the spirit of the townspeople, who begin to feel isolated and introverted, and the plague begins to affect various characters. 2. When Rieux denied Rambert s request for a certificate which would allow the latter to leave the city, Rambert said bitterly: No you can t understand. You re using the language of reason, not of the heart; you live in a world of abstraction (p.82). How do Rieux and Rambert differ in their perspectives on the plague? In your answer interpret the distinction between abstraction and happiness, and why Rieux does not share Rambert s intense desire to escape from Oran. See also pages , , Raymond Rambert asks the town doctor, Bernard Rieux for a certificate stating that he is plague-free, in order that he might leave the quarantined city of Oran and be reunited in Paris with his girlfriend. When his request is refused, Rambert angrily accuses Rieux of being incapable of understanding his situation: You're using the language of reason, not of the heart; you live in a world of abstractions. After Rambert's departure, Rieux muses on his accusation: Yes, the journalist was right in refusing to be balked of happiness. But was he right in reproaching him, Rieux, with living in a world of abstractions? Could that term abstraction really apply to these days he spent in his hospital while the plague was battening on the town...? Yes, an element of abstraction, of a divorce from reality, entered into such calamities. Still when abstraction sets to killing you, you've got to get busy with it. And so much Rieux knew: that this wasn't the easiest course. The answer to both of Rieux's reflexive questions is no. Rieux, in fact, isn't dealing with abstractions, or ideas at all when he refuses Rambert's request he is reacting rationally to unforeseen events that have befallen Oran. In addition to working long clinical hours, diagnosing and treating contagious patients, he helps convince city health officials to institute measures for inoculating the city's populace at the earliest possible time, in an effort to stem spreading of the disease. Rieux does what he has to do in the face of calamity, out of a sense of responsibility to himself, as a citizen of Oran and the community, as a doctor who has pledged to treat and heal the sick, even if his own well being is threatened in turn.

2 3. Explain Paneloux s perspective on the plague. See pages and Father Paneloux is a priest in the story. During the beginning trials of the plague, he delivered a sermon to the people of Oran, declaring that the plague was sent by God to punish them for their sins. 4. Camus seems to suggest that Rieux, Tarrou and Grand respond to the crisis in the most exemplary way. Explain the perspective these heroes (or, rather, non-heroes) had on the crisis. See pages , 133, 158. No one takes a stand and resists death except Rieux and Tarrou. Rieux and Tarrou do seem to show the same level of heroism. Both resist the plague, both are symbolically cleansed in the river, and both record the events of Oran. BrÃ e thinks that for Rieux "morality is first of all a question of curing people (150)." Rieux fights the plague only because he sees it as his duty, and one has to wonder if he would have done anything if he wasn't a doctor. He views the plague as "a never-ending defeat." Tarrou acts for a more noble purpose: to gain sainthood. (Paneloux might also be considered a hero for this reason, but he doesn't fight the plague as Tarrou does.) Tarrou sacrifices his life, and thus pays more for his heroism than Rieux. By the end of the book Rieux has been reduced to methodically diagnosing patients, while Tarrou has died and supposedly attained sainthood. Tarrou accomplishes his goal, but Rieux hasn't been able to cure everyone of the plague. What is the plague which Tarrou is fighting? Some see it as a parable for the Occupation (Bloom 107), with Oran being France, the men rebels, and the plague Nazism. If this is so, why does the plague carry off the Catholic priest and M. Othon's son? Austin Fowler (Dep. of English, NY state university) says that the plague is death itself, common to all men. Camus, then, is showing how different people react to death. Through Tarrou, Camus shows how to heroically deal with death. Tarrou falls in with Deucalion and the worms in God's garden as an example of "the cataracts of heaven". Since one of his goals was not to be a carrier of plague, the plague strikes him. Like most of the characters in this chapter, he resists his fate even to his deathbed. Camus shows us that the constant act of resisting, the unwillingness to accept death, makes us saints. Paneloux, for all his religious beliefs, chooses not to fight the plague and misses out on sainthood. Rieux resists not because he hates death but because he's a doctor. He becomes almost indifferent to suffering in his narration and actions, so the plague doesn't "punish" him. Camus has obviously set Tarrou up to be a hero in the plague. He's the only hero because nobody except Rieux comes close to fighting the plague, and Rieux only acts to fulfill his obligation as a doctor. He's a saint because he resists death and fate and thus attains sainthood. He's a hero because he provides a correct model on how to deal with death. For fighting the plague, he gets symbolically crushed. Without Tarrou, "The Plague" wouldn't have the hero common to almost all literature.

3 5. What is Cottard s perspective on, and reaction to, the plague? Why does Tarrou describe him as the plague s accomplice? See pages , Cottard is totally pumped about the plague when he bumps into Dr. Rieux on the street. Could things get any better? Surely not! It s like a black-market shady smuggler s dream come true. Cottard overhears Rambert discussing his "I wish I could get out of Oran already" plight with Rieux. He approaches the journalist the next day and offers to help, mostly so he can have yet another "friend" willing to testify in his favor. Cottard meets with Tarrou and Rieux and is none-too-happy to hear of a man s recovery from the plague. When Tarrou suggests that he help fight the pestilence, he responds that that simply isn t his job. Besides, he says, the plague has been treating him well why would he want to fight it? When Tarrou suggests that Cottard could be arrested for his actions, he flips out. Publicly. This guy does not have a check for his emotional volatility. Cottard reveals that he did something illegal years ago. He won t say what, but he does explain that it wasn t murder. This supposedly explains his paranoia he s afraid of getting caught. Cottard can t help Rambert after his first escape attempt fails, since he doesn t know where Gonzales lives. The next morning, Cottard goes with Rieux to find Garcia again. Tarrou develops an intense interest in Cottard. He (Cottard that is) seems to be the only person not exhausted by the plague (probably because he s profiting from it in an ethically abominable manner). In fact, Cottard has been Big Man around Oran, making friends with everyone. Mostly, he s cheery that police investigations into non-plague-related matters have been halted. Cottard thinks people should realize how good they ve got it with the plague around. Tarrou notes that Cottard, because he was somewhat on the run from the law, was used to always living as if his life might be snatched from him at any moment. Now, he says, everyone is living as Cottard always has. This, he imagines, is nice for Cottard. He finally has company. Cottard goes to the opera with Tarrou and witnesses the actor playing Orpheus collapse on stage from the plague. As the plague worsens, Cottard continues to make money "hand over fist." When the plague s recession begins, Cottard is resident party pooper in Oran. Cottard has been visiting Dr. Rieux frequently to ask whether or not the plague is actually receding. Because really, he d rather it not. Tarrou s journal entries now focus on Cottard: he s stopped trying to make friends with everyone and has become somewhat of a recluse. He asks Tarrou what it would mean for the plague to be over and for things to go back to normal; Cottard is clearly concerned with the whole police thing.

4 Speaking of, two men that come off suspiciously as agents of the law approach Cottard while he s with Tarrou. Ever the calm and suave, Cottard squeaks and runs off like a ninny. With the plague over and the gates opened, Cottard cracks and starts shooting people from his apartment window. Cottard is arrested, as he always feared he would be. Funny how these things work out. Because Tarrou is a good listener and generally non-judgmental, Cottard likes to spend time with him and talk about his feelings of isolation. Tarrou advises that the best way to avoid isolation is to have a clear conscience. He decides that Cottard is an "accomplice" of the plague, and that everyone in town, though lonely, will always be kept apart by their mistrust of one another. He adds that everyone is now living the way Cottard has always lived: in constant fear that, at any moment, life may be snatched away. He thinks Cottard likes the company. 6. How does Tarrou interpret the plague? See pages Be detailed. During the chronicle his goal was to become, although he was an atheist, a saint. Through new actions and behavior and he could possibly be a new character that can help Oran return back to the conditions it was once in- this character is Tarrou. Tarrou is a reoccurring character that befriends Dr. Rieux during the plague after finding himself lonely. After becoming friend with Dr. Rieux, Tarrou realizes the severity of the plague and begin drawing up efforts or plans to restore his town of Oran. Tarrou also begins configuring ways in which to seek out more volunteers that can contribute to the well being of the society. He cannot accept the plague as part of the natural order of things and feels he must fight against it. In his fight against the plague, Tarrou refuses to accept that the disease has to be a death penalty. - Tarrou gives his viewpoints. He identifies the enemy as the threshing machine - whether it be in the form of the plague or the form of the cold-blooded institutionalized killing by the state. Since he is a strong opponent of the death penalty, he feels that everyone that approves or accepts this hideous form of punishment suffers from a kind of plague. He believes that all those who do not fight against death, be it the plague or a state ordered death penalty, are passive murderers. Tarrou reveals that his father was in the legal profession. Since he was a public prosecutor, Tarrou judged him to be a state- appointed murderer. He found him so despicable that he had to leave home without explanation and has never

5 been able to forgive him for imposing the death penalty on those he found guilty. Because of his negative feelings toward the legal profession, it is not surprising that Tarrou finds M. Othon unacceptable. Once again there is an obvious parallel to the war. Tarrou s criticism of state-approved murder and those who support it is really a criticism of Hitler s murderous policies and those who enforced them. Both Rieux and Tarrou are fighting against the same enemy, even though they come from different purposes and backgrounds. Both of them want to eradicate suffering and death and the agents that cause them. Both are also uncompromising in their struggle against "the threshing machine" for the benefit of the victims. In their struggles, both Rieux and Tarrou become exiles. The theme of being exiled is an important one throughout the book. In the beginning, Rieux felt exiled because of his separation from his wife and his stance against the plague, a contrast to the stance of the authorities; Tarrou felt exiled because he was an outsider in Oran. Now the two are exiled together as they struggle against man s fate as imposed by agents of death. The struggle is not a heroic deed but a necessity. To preserve the sanctity of life in the absence of God (Nietzehe s challenge to mankind) is what Tarrou calls saintliness, and he strives for that through sympathy with and aid to his fellowmen. The final applause is reserved for Rieux when Tarrou concedes that there is a third category of men besides the oppressor and the oppressed; he calls Rieux a true healer. The doctor, however, disclaims any desire to be a hero or saint, settling for being a man who must fact the harshness of the human condition and acknowledge that there is no final victory over death. The final swim in the sea is symbolic of a kind of consummation of the perfect relationship and understanding between Tarrou and Rieux. Both have plunged into a deep milieu where the currents may pull them down if they are not careful. The sea is also a symbol of the promise of the limitless possibilities in life that lie beyond the confines of the plague infested present. The perfect harmony of their strokes as they swim side by side suggests their bonding as well as their isolation in swimming against the tide of the world. Rieux on his first surfacing after the dive into the sea had already experienced a mystical communion with the order of the universe as he looked up at the dome of the sky. Then Tarrou joins him in human communion.

6 ESSAY QUESTION: 7. In Camus The Plague, Tarrou tells Rieux that there are pestilences and there are victims, and it is up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. He then added that I grant that we should add a third category: that of the true healers. But it s a fact one doesn t come across many of them, and anyhow it must be a hard vocation. That s why I decided to take, in every predicament, the victim s side so as to reduce the damage done. Amongst them I can at least try to discover how one attains to the third category; in other words, to peace. When Rieux asked if Tarrou had an idea of the path to follow for attaining peace, Tarrou replied: yes the path of sympathy (p. 244). QUESTION: What do Minow s Vengeance and Forgiveness and Camus novel The Plague teach us about the path of sympathy toward peace? What difficulties and possibilities lie along that path? CAMUS - Rieux and Tarrou in The Plague call the "path of sympathy," a revolutionary journey that becomes the most important way we can confront the nihilism and despair that appear to surface during wars but remain present MINOW - Tarrou has his idea on how to attain peace: "The path of sympathy" (Camus 230). Tarrou follows this path throughout his life, struggling to overcome the indifference to suffering, struggling for the cause of helping others.

ENGLISH TEXT SUMMARY NOTES. The Plague. Text guide by: Fran Bernardi. TSSM 2007 Page 1 of 23

ENGLISH TEXT SUMMARY NOTES. The Plague. Text guide by: Fran Bernardi. TSSM 2007 Page 1 of 23 ENGLISH TEXT SUMMARY NOTES The Plague Text guide by: Fran Bernardi TSSM 2007 Page 1 of 23 Copyright TSSM 2007 TSSM ACN 099 422 670 ABN 54 099 422 670 A: Level 14, 474 Flinders Street Melbourne VIC 3000