The Plague by Albert Camus

The Plague is a five-part novel that tells the tale of a small, North African coastal town - Oran - how it has been afflicted by a plague and how it has dealt with it. Part One introduces us to the town and how it functions. It is written very generally and draws parallels both to everywhere (so that everyone can relate to it) and nowhere (so the reader can view the events objectively rather than subjectively). Part One presents the antagonist - the plague - and closes the gates of the town to contain it.

Part Two brings the characters together and shows you their individual responses to the plague. In Part Three, the plague wreaks its greatest havoc, taking as its victims much of the town while being indiscriminate. In Part Four, the town starts to become victorious and the plague seems to be on the decline. However, in Part Five, it strikes its final blow by killing Tarrou just as the gates of Oran are about to be opened. In the end, Dr. Rieux struggles with his feelings of happiness that the plague has been temporarily defeated and his sadness over losing both his wife and his friend Tarrou.

Miriam Webster gives several definitions of the word plague, all of which are applicable in this novel - “a disastrous evil or affliction; a destructively numerous influx; an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality; a cause of irritation; a sudden unwelcome outbreak.: In the context of bioethics, however, the plague can be something natural, something done to your own person, or something done to another.

Camus shows the plague as a “disastrous evil or affliction” that is also an irrational and depersonalized evil. The plague, in this sense, is both physical and spiritual. While it causes sickness and death, it also causes exile, separation and isolation as people are cordoned off and quarantined. At the same time, those who turn to the church for solace find none as Father Paneloux initially preaches that the plague is actually a punishment from God for their sins. As the novel continues and Father Paneloux sees the indiscriminate nature of the plague, even he begins to question his beliefs.