Term Paper on "Albert Camus the Plague"

Term Paper 3 pages (1003 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Albert Camus

The Plague

The Plague is considered to be one of the best works of French existentialist writer Albert Camus, who described the tragedy of absurd and senselessness of modern world in this novel. Camus makes us to know that plague which attacked the city of Oran was an atonement for social alienation, indifference and social inertia of its inhabitants, whose life turned into a monotonic cycle of predictable senseless and emotionless actions. Plague executes the role of social punishment for Oran's townsmen for their indifference to surrounding, egoism and unhealthy individualism. But nevertheless in the first chapter of the novel we don't observe growing social protest against coming epidemic, but instead it's a confusion caused by pestilence of rats, which is by the way the first sight of plague. People are not even able to strike against plague and the first deaths even don't make anyone to think about future catastrophe. It becomes obvious that people lost immunity to strike for life and simply to strike against death as for most of them death seemed to be only a logical completion of life. People of Oran begin to waken only when it becomes clear that city is absorbed in plague and when officials decide to close it and isolate it from the rest of the world. Only the feeling of hopelessness and inevitable death from plague makes people to return to real life as they start to fight against epidemic collectively, supporting each other and enjoying every moment of life. These events discover the most interesting and contradictory concept of Camus humanistic existentialism: to fight death and struggle for life under inevitable death sentence. Solidarity of citizens and mutual desire to fight the epidemic and thirst for living make plague to retreat and to disappear at the end of the novel. So plague serves as an instrument to make people understand and cognize the real value of live it makes them unite during the most difficult and cruel time of dreadful epidemic.

Only handful of people from a big city is able to resist the disaster: doctor Rieux, priest Paneloux, journalist Rambert and some others. Only they are able to make efforts to change at least something in city, where evil is represented by a specific moral condition of citizens who faced the tragedy of plague epidemic. Step-by-step the city which is closed on quarantine loses its unity, joy of communication as plague promotes disintegration and destroys moral norms. The rebel of Oran citizens which only happens after they lose the hope to be saved and evacuated shows the desire to restore healthy human relations and desire to escape from existing alienation. That's why after the city was isolated, its citizens unconsciously began to make steps towards each other: they started to seek communication attending cinemas and theatre, where only one movie was shown and only one play was staged, as they missed simple humanism and illusion of happy life. The faster epidemic grew the stronger was the unity… READ MORE

How to Reference "Albert Camus the Plague" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Society as Reflected by Albert Camus the Plague Research Paper

Camus -- the Plague

An Analysis of Social Representation in Camus' the Plague

The French philosophical novel of the 20th century was a self-contained worldview, best described by Camus in… read more

Research Paper 6 pages (1970 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Philosophy / Logic / Reason

---

Plague Albert Camus Wrote His Magnus Opus Term Paper

Plague

Albert Camus wrote his Magnus opus, the Plague in 1940s with more than one goal in mind. But the dominant goal, that seems to stand above all the rest,… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1950 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

Camus in the Book the Plague Term Paper

Camus

In the book The Plague by Albert Camus, the narrator calls Joseph Grand, a lowly clerk in the municipal office, a "hero," because he has the ability to quietly… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (701 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

Camus France WWII France Under the Nazis Research Proposal

Camus France WWII

France under the Nazis According to Camus

French behavior during World War II would generate a reputation for the political and military orientation that persists even today.… read more

Research Proposal 5 pages (1600 words) Sources: 1 Topic: World History

---

Guest and Sonny's Blues Albert Camus Term Paper

Guest and Sonny's Blues

Albert Camus' "The Guest" Topic

Albert Camus was a great existential thinker and philosopher, yet he is most known for his works of fiction; essentially, Camus… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (899 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Music / Musicians / Instruments

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>