Contrary to error, mankind has not conquered the plague. Every year, more than 2,000 people become ill with this terrible disease, and many of them die. In different eras, many devoted their works to this misfortune. Among them is Nobel laureate Albert Camus. The Plague (a summary of the novel is set out in Section VI) is an amazing work. In it, the writer not only realistically portrayed the life of a city covered by an epidemic, but also drew an analogy between the plague and fascism.
The author of the novel "Plague" Albert Camus
The writer was born in the fall of 1913 in Algeria. With the outbreak of World War I, the boy's father died, and the care of the family fell on his mother's shoulders.
When Alber grew up, he received a scholarship at a local lyceum, and after graduation he continued his studies at the University of Oran.
With the rise of fascism in Europe, Camus began an active struggle against it. He wrote independent press articles criticizing the “brown plague.”
In the early 40s, the writer moved to France, where he collaborates with the Resistance Movement. It is noteworthy that, unlike the USSR, in which the struggle against fascism was the only way for people to survive, the Nazis behaved more tolerant in France, and many French supported them. Participation in the Resistance was tantamount to signing a death sentence for yourself, and not many French people risked their well-being and joined it.
During these years, Camus published articles in underground publications criticizing the doctrines of fascism. Later, memories of this period of life will form the basis of the novel by Albert Camus “Plague”, the summary of which is the subject of our conversation today.
Over time, the writer forms his own philosophy, close to the ideas of existentialism (the irrationality of existence). During this period, the writer’s novel “The Outsider” and the philosophical essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” are published.
In 1943, Camus began work on the novel-parable "The Plague." However, it is possible to finish and publish it only after 4 years.
In subsequent years, Camus revises his views and writes the essay “Rebel Man,” because of which many like-minded people start to react negatively to him, but Camus’s books are popular, and in 1957 the writer receives the Nobel Prize.
The life of this man was cut short in January 1960, when he had a car accident. Albert Camus was buried in the Lurmaren cemetery in southern France.
Background of the novel
The idea to write a novel about fascism arose in Camus in the early 40s, when he taught in Oran. However, work on the novel began only in 1943, Albert Camus.
The "Plague" (a brief summary of the chapters will be discussed later) was completed only in 1947 and published the same year. Europe, which had not yet had time to recover from the war, perfectly adopted the parable novel, since they still remembered the invasion of the “brown plague”.
Chapter composition of the novel
The language of the work is rather dry and devoid of emotions, because this is a chronicle novel, consisting of notes by Dr. Bernard Rieu and who arrived shortly before the outbreak of the Jean Tarroux epidemic.
In total, the novel consists of 5 chapters, each of which illustrates a certain emotional state of people in relation to the plague:
Chapter I - “Denial.”
Chapter II - "Anger".
Chapter III - “Permissiveness”.
Chapter IV - “Depression and Fatigue”.
Chapter V - “Humility”.
The main characters of the novel
You should first consider the main characters of the novel before you begin a brief retelling of the content.
The plague (Camus Alber focused on this) is the main character of the work.
She is omnipresent and inexorable, meaningless and merciless - absolute evil. Most of the other characters are heroes fighting her. So, their leader can be called Dr. Bernard Rie. This is a dark-skinned, dark-haired and brown-eyed man of 35 years. The doctor tries to keep all his experiences to himself. He suffers from separation from his wife, but he does not complain and does not attempt to escape from the city, and day after day, despite his tiredness, he continues to treat the sick. His motto: "
You need to be crazy ,
blind or a
villain to
put up with the
plague ."
The opposite of the doctor is Raymond Rambert, a young journalist from Paris. Despite much experience (fought in Spain), the reporter remains a very emotional person. Having accidentally found himself in a plagued city, he is trying to get out of it in order to return to his beloved wife.
At first, he behaves as if everything happening around him does not concern him. But he soon changes his attitude and, having a chance to escape, remains in the city and selflessly fights the plague. In the initial drafts for the novel, this character was not.
Another bright character is Jean Tarroux. He grew up in abundance from childhood, but, realizing that others live worse, he decided to devote his life to helping them. After a while, Tarru discovers that with his attempts to help, he often did worse. Despite bitter disappointment, with the plague, Tarru abandoned his philosophies and organized the first volunteer medical unit to help fight the infection. In the end, this hero dies from the plague in anticipation of victory over her.
Father Panlu. This image embodies all the nuances of the Christian worldview. At first, he interprets the epidemic as the Lord's punishment for the sins of the inhabitants of the city. However, over time, it turns out that innocent children and old sinners die from the infection. Despite this, the priest does not lose his faith and accepts what is happening with humility. He becomes an assistant to the atheist Rie and takes care of the sick, sparing no effort. Having become ill, the priest refuses treatment and accepts death with a crucifix in his hands.
Minor Heroes
Having become acquainted with the main and secondary characters of the novel Camus (The Plague), the summary of the work will be easier to understand.
A small freelance worker from City Hall, 50-year-old Joseph Gran does not look like a hero at all. In normal circumstances, he is a classic loser, unable to adapt to life. Because of this, he is poor and abandoned by his wife. The novel of his whole life remains at the level of the first phrase about the Amazon. However, at the time of general misfortune, courage awakens in this little man. He is a hero, but not one of those who throws a breast at the embrasure. Gran during the chaos of the epidemic manages to remain calm and continue to regulate the work of squads day after day. Having contracted the plague, he miraculously recovers, and this incident marks the beginning of the victory over the disease.
The smuggler Kottar is a vivid example of those people who are in their misfortunes. While everyone is dying from the epidemic, he rejoices in the ensuing chaos, because of which he avoids prison. He manages to make a fortune during a terrible misfortune, but his inner emptiness and loneliness lead him to craziness. At the beginning of the novel, he tries to hang himself, but this suicidal attempt is more like a cry for help. Behind his ostentatious indifference lies loneliness, with which the hero never copes.
There are several female images in the novel. First of all, this is the doctor’s wife - a selfless woman, trying to the last not to worry her husband and hiding the deterioration of her health.
Rie’s mother looks just as worthy. She shows kindness and care to her son and his friends. No wonder Tarru admires her in her recordings.
Still in the novel, the faithful wife of Rambert is mentioned, waiting for her husband all the time while he was locked in quarantine.
Albert Camus, The Plague: A Summary of the Novel
Having dealt with the composition of the novel and the main characters, it is worth moving on to the plot. In his work he created a rather clear architect Camus. "Plague" (a brief summary of the chapters is better to state) consists of 5 parts.
So, I chapter. It tells about the Algerian coastal city of Oran.
In early April, the doctor finds a dead rat on the steps of his house, and later another one. After escorting her husband on a train (she is leaving for treatment at a sanatorium), Rie discusses with the local investigator the increase in the number of rats in the city. In the afternoon, the doctor gives an interview to a correspondent from Paris, Rambert.
A few days later, rats in the city began to crawl out of their holes in whole flocks and die. Their number has grown so much that 6,231 rat corpses were burned in just one day.
Soon the watchman from the doctor’s house fell ill with a strange ailment and died. By that time, the rats had disappeared, and people began to get sick with an unknown fever with a fatal outcome. Rie gathers colleagues to find out what kind of illness. Test results show that this is an unusual type of plague.
The city authorities were in no hurry to respond to the epidemic, and only through the efforts of Rie managed to force them to carry out preventive measures. Meanwhile, the number of deaths reaches 30 per day, and only then the city is quarantined.
II chapter. Even after the beginning of quarantine, the townspeople could not in any way realize the reality of what was happening. However, when the death toll exceeded several hundred, they began to fear. Many residents were sent on vacation at their own expense, gasoline and essentials were sold in limited quantities. Many stores closed, and only cafes flourished.
At the end of the first month of quarantine, the journalist Ramber came to the doctor and asked to help him leave the city. Rie could not help the guy, and he began to look for other ways through the smuggler Kottara.
Meanwhile, more than 100 people died from the infection per day. To restore order, Tarru persuades Rie to organize sanitary groups. Rumber, waiting for the opportunity to escape from the city, also begins to work in the medical squads.
Chapter III. In the city, cases of looting became more frequent. The poor suffered more than the rich, but the plague did not spare anyone. There were not enough coffins, and the bodies of the dead began to be burned. People were desperate.
IV chapter. The plague continues to rage. Ramber, having received the opportunity to escape from the city, but, inspired by the example of a doctor, remains to work in the medical squads, corresponding with his wife. A new anti-plague vaccine has been developed in the city, but it does not help. Soon the priest Panlu dies. Gran gets sick, but suddenly recovers, and after him several more patients, and it becomes clear that the epidemic is on the decline.
V chapter. Despite the gradual retreat of the plague, the inhabitants of the city could not believe it. However, on the eve of the victory over the plague, Tarru fell ill and died, which crippled the doctor even more than the subsequent news of his wife's death in the sanatorium.
In February, quarantine was lifted from the city, and people rejoiced when they met with relatives after a long separation. The doctor continued to work and reflected that the plague virus was not killed and was able to return at any time.
Characters in the novel
Despite the apparent simplicity of the plot, Camus’s novel The Plague is full of characters (a summary of the work above).
The most important symbol in the parable is the plague itself. Its distribution is contrary to all laws of logic and justice. She does not spare anyone: both the noble dreamer Tarru and the honest priest Panlu die. At the same time, old Gran recovered, and the smuggler Kottar did not get sick at all. In a narrow sense, the plague is fascism, which almost destroyed Europe. However, Camus proposed to understand her as a symbol of global indestructible evil, which is always nearby, ready to attack, and which must be fought constantly.
Still symbolic are the harbingers of the plague - rats.
They are similar to the small weaknesses of people who usually bring only minor inconveniences, but with an increase in their number they can cause great trouble. So, at first no one pays attention to rats until there are a lot of them. It is noteworthy that at the end of the novel, rats reappear in the city, as a symbol of the fact that a person always has minor weaknesses, and no one knows which of them can turn into a future disaster. In this case, we can draw an analogy with one of the “fathers” of fascism, Adolf Hitler. Due to difficult family relationships, he had a negative attitude towards Jews since childhood. In particular, this lack of it did not affect anything, but when the Führer stood at the head of a great nation, it was this petty weakness that led to the death of millions of descendants of Abraham.
Film adaptation
Despite the popularity of the novel, it was filmed only in 1992.
The film of the same name is deprived of many plot elements of the novel, while it has interesting findings. So, to convey the atmosphere of the book, the film completely lacks musical accompaniment. In addition, the atmosphere of the film is modernized, and because of this it looks even more intimidating.
In this article we discussed the plot of a serious novel, however, only a brief summary of it is presented to your attention. Albert Camus (The Plague is far from his only work with philosophical meaning) surprisingly accurately conveyed the atmosphere of the plagued city, and it would not be out of place for everyone to read this book in its entirety.