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Analysis of themes in the plague by Albert camus
Analysis of themes in the plague by Albert camus
Analysis of themes in the plague by Albert camus
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Dead rats filled the streets of Oran in the beginning of Albert Camus’ novel The Plague. The plague was rapidly spreading throughout Oran, despite the town’s effort to constrain it. Oran was soon quarantined, letting no one in and no one out. Dr. Rieux, a local physician, organizes a team of volunteers to fight the plague. The team plans to control sanitation and properly transport infected individuals to Dr. Rieux’s hospital. The character qualities of Dr. Rieux and his team of volunteers throughout the novel are consistent with Jean-Paul Sartre’s characteristics of an existentialist.
Camus’ The Plague is an acceptable exemplifier of Sartre’s existentialism because of the situation the characters face. With the town of Oran quarantined, all humans face the same destiny regardless of social class, religion, or race; that destiny is death. Cottard likes the plague because he feels everyone is connected [QUOTE.] By fighting against the progress of the plague, Dr. Rieux and his team of volunteers are essentially declaring a war against death. In doing so they are given the opportunity to make choices that define their character. This is a strong existential theme. Sartre believes QUOTE each person has the power to create themselves. In other words, the essence of a human is not definite. Simply making different choices can redefine the person you are. Sartre calls these people who understand this ability to start making a different kind of choice brave. QUOTE Dr. Rieux, by Sartre’s definition, is an existentialist capable of making these decisions.
Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism is one governed by the philosophy that existence precedes essence. This idea is evident in the characters of Dr. Rieux and Rambert, the ...
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...ttard has the essence of a criminal and feels the need to conform to that essence, contrasting with the philosophy of Sartre on changing decisions to change one’s essence. Tarrou, known for having a soft spot for criminals by his resentment towards his father’s profession as a prosecutor, sees Mr. Cottard as more than just a criminal. By introducing Mr. Cottard after his attempted suicide, Camus gives his readers the opportunity to understand Mr. Cottard as Tarrou does.
Tarrou understands Mr. Cottard for his true self, a man who is alone and suffering, evident by his suicide attempt. Without Tarrou’s lack of judgement, the reader would not have known Mr. Cottard to be anything more than a criminal. Tarrou builds a friendship and converses with Mr. Cottard, revealing to the reader the real Mr. Cottard, rather than a man who fits the social role as a criminal.
The protagonist, Meursault, was interesting character. His ideas and beliefs seem to point to a time when there is no hope to be had. Although he is able to accept the fact that everyone dies and in so doing realizes that you can live better. He lives a controlled life in which he takes responsibility for all of his actions. This is a direct reflect of Camus personal beliefs about absurdism.
In the experimental novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, he explores the concept of existentialism and the idea that humans are born into nothing and descend into nothingness after death. The novel takes place in the French colony of Algiers where the French-Algerians working-class colonists live in an urban setting where simple life pleasures are of the upmost importance in the lives of working class people like the protagonist of the novel Meursault. What is fascinating about this novel is that it opens up with a scene of perpetual misfortune for him through the death of his mother although he seems to express otherwise. The reader perceives this nonchalance as a lack of care. Maman’s death and its impact on Meursault appear in both the very beginning and very end of the two-part novel, suggesting a cyclical pattern in the structure. This cyclical pattern suggests not a change in the moral beliefs of Meursault but rather his registering society’s systems and beliefs and craft meaning in his own life despite the fact that he meets his demise in the end. Camus uses Maman’s funeral to characterise both Meursault and the society and customs created by the society Meursault lives in in order to contrast the two while at the same time reveal how while society changes, Meursault does not. Rather, Maman’s funeral becomes of unprecedented importance in Meursault’s life and allows him to find that nothing means anything in his meaningless world at the time of his death. He finds peace in that.
The Plague (French, La Peste) is a novel written by Albert Camus that is about an epidemic of bubonic plague. The Plague is set in a small Mediterranean town in North Africa called Oran. Dr. Bernard Rieux, one of the main characters, describes it as an ugly town. Oran’s inhabitants are boring people who appear to live, for the most part, habitual lives. The main focus of the town is money. “…everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, 'doing business’” (Camus 4). The citizens’ unawareness of life’s riches and pleasures show their susceptibility to the oncoming plague. They don’t bother themselves with matters not involving money. It is very easy for the reader to realize that they are too naive to combat the forthcoming calamity. The theme of not knowing life is more than work and habits will narrow the people’s chances of survival. Rieux explains that the town had a view of death as something that happens every day. He then explains that the town really doesn’t face towards the Mediterranean Sea. Actually it is almost impossible to see the sea from town. Oran is a town which seems to turn its back on life and freedom. The Plague was first published in 1948 in France. “Early readers were quick to note that it was in part an allegory of the German occupation of France from 1940 to 1944, which cut France off from the outside world; just as in the novel the town of Oran must close its gates to isolate the plague” (“The Plague” 202). When the plague first arrives, the residents are slow to realize the extreme danger they are in. Once they finally become aware of it...
Albert Camus is a skillful writer noted for showing aspects of culture and society through the depiction of his characters. In The Stranger, Camus illustrates the existentialism culture and how that comes into play in the life of the protagonist Meursault. The Stranger, as suggested by the title, is a novel revolving around the protagonist, Meursault, who is a stranger to the French-Algerian society as he challenges its values. Camus vividly portrays Meursault’s journey through the use of imagery, irony, and symbolism. In The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the minor character, Raymond Sintes, to illustrate the contrasting nature of Meursault and how his friendship with Raymond leads to his downfall.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
It was in the 19th centuries where a French writer Jean-Paul Sartre who popularized the concept of existentialism during his play No Exit. The play was published in 1943. Sartre explained Existentialism, which states in the belief that life has no meaning. Reynolds stated that, “People should be responsible for themselves rather than make excuses for the occurrences in their life, the belief that humans have free will” ( ). Each is separate from all other individuals, so each person has the power to place himself in the position he wishes, that every individual is responsible for his actions.
... evening, on leaving the office, they forgather, at an hour that never varies, in the cafes, stroll the same boulevard, or take the air on their balconies. The passions of the young are violent and short-lived; the vices of older men seldom range beyond an addiction to bowling, to banquets and "socials," or clubs where large sums change hands on the fall of a card (Camus,The Plague)." Here it shows an example of existentialism as it did in The Stranger. In both novels the main characters of interest are consumed by repetitive redundant lives; which reflects the philosophy. But this novel, The Plague, also shows possibly a reason why Camus denies existentialism. In The Plague it is expressed that man is good of at least has potential to be good.
Although he argues passionately that individuals could endure its corrosive effects, his most famous works betray the extraordinary difficulty he faced building a convincing case. In The Stranger which he wrote in 1942, for example, Meursault has rejected the existential suppositions on which the uninitiated and weak rely. Just few moments before his execution for an unintentional murder, he discovers and have a sudden realization that life alone is reason enough for living, however, that in context seems scarcely convincing. In Caligula written in 1944, the mad emperor tries to escape the human predicament by dehumanizing himself with acts of senseless violence, afterward he fails, and secretly arranges his own assassination. The Plague written in 1947 shows the futility of doing one's best in an absurd world. And in his last novel, the short and sardonic, The Fall written in 1956, Camus posits that everyone has gory hands because we are all responsible for making a sorry state even more worst by our inane action and inaction alike. Through these works and other works by the several other existentialists, one is often left with the impression that living authentically with the meaninglessness of life is impossible.
Albert Camus was a French writer who was very well known all over the world for his different works but especially with the idea of “absurdism”. Camus believed that something that was absurd was not possible by humans or logically. It was beyond ridiculous and therefore impossible. This was the basis of one of his most famous works, The Plague. The Plague is a novel that explores aspects of human nature and condition, destiny, God, and fate. The novel is about a plague that takes place in Oran, Algeria that is fictional, but it’s believed to be relatively based on a cholera outbreak in the mid 1800’s in Oran that killed thousands of people. Dr. Bernard Rieux is the protagonist but also is the narrator. However, he doesn’t admit to being the narrator until the end of the novel. Camus writes in the beginning that the instances in Oran are being told by witnesses of the plague. In The Plague, Camus wants his audience to read the book unbiasedly not knowing the narrator in order to take sides with the characters that one wants to and not to be persuaded by the narrators telling of the events.
Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will. To Sartre, saying that som...
Existentialism is a Humanism, written by French philosopher Jean- Paul Sartre, was written in 1946 based on a lecture that Sartre gave at Club Maintenant in Paris in 1945. Existentialism is defined as “a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of will” (Merriam- Webster Dictionary). In Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre portrays existentialism as an essentially optimistic philosophy. He uses key existentialist terms such as anguish, abandonment, and despair to defend his view as well as provide examples that help us to analyze his claim. After doing so, we can conclude that Sartre’s claim is wrong and existentialism
In Albert Camus’ novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is a character who has definite values and opinions concerning the society in which he lives. His self-inflicted alienation from society and all its habits and customs is clear throughout the book. The novel itself is an exercise in absurdity that challenges the reader to face the nagging questions concerning the meaning of human existence. Meursault is an existentialist character who views his life in an unemotional and noncommittal manner, which enhances his obvious opinion that in the end life is utterly meaningless.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is Humanism.” Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian Publishing
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is Humanism.” Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian Publishing
Jean Paul Sartre's Existential philosophy posits that is in man, and in man alone, that existence precedes essence. Simply put, Sartre means that man is first, and only subsequently to his “isness” does he become this or that. The implication in Sartre's philosophy is that man must create his own essence: it is in being thrown into the world through consciounsess intent, loving, struggling, experiencing and being in the world that man is alllowed to define itself. Yet, the definition always remains open ended: we cannot say that a human is definitively this or that before its death and indeed, it is the ultimate nothingness of death that being is defined. The concepts that Sartre examines in Being and Nothingness