Furthermore, a plague strikes the city of Oran just off the coast of France. This plague starts with the death of just a couple rats in unordinary places such as the lobby of
Rieux’s dormitory. Next, more rats start to die but people still aren’t fazed by this pattern.
M. Michael was the first man to fall sick of this plague. Next, one by one more and more people fall to the plague. Sooner or later, people are dying left and right from this deadly plague until the deaths are uncountable. During this epidemic Doctor Rieux gets separated from his wife as the town is cut off from the rest of the world. Rambert, struggles similarly with Rieux in that they are both separated from their wives. Faith in a sense of Duty leads one to happiness. Doctor
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87). Rieux recognizes that it is very difficult being separated from one’s wife and that everyone would feel better if they are able to be reunited with their loved ones. This was even harder for Rieux for his wife is sick and away from him. In times of a plague it is very difficult for people to find faith and that most would rather tend to their feelings instead of their duties. Rieux acknowledges, “ Only the law was the law, plague had broken out, and he could only do what had to be done”(p. 87). Abandoning the law and a sense of duty means that Rieux and Rambert and all the others would be with their loved ones. However, this also means that all these men would be abandoning their own jobs in order to feel better.
As a Doctor it is Rieux’s job to tend to the sick and attempt at curing this epidemic for that is his duty. Throughout the course of the plague we see that Rieux maintains faith in his sense of duty by doing his job and never giving up the fight against the plague. Many lives were lost to the plague. However the lives that Rieux saved should not go unrecognized for if Rieux did not do his job with the help of his friends then there would be no room
Plagues and Peoples written by William H. McNeill follows the patterns of epidemics and endemics within human history. It is within this history that McNeill finds parallels between diseases and humans in the forms of microparasitism and macroparasitism. Merely from the title, McNeill gives equal importance to viruses and humankind. In several instances, humans behave the same way viruses, bacteria, and parasites do in order to survive and to compete. Surprisingly enough, McNeill’s overarching theme can be summarized using his last sentence, asserting that “Infectious disease which antedated the emergence of humankind will last as long as humanity itself, and will surely remain, as it has been hitherto, one of the fundamental parameters and
Mcnaughton, David. "An Unconnected Heap of Duties?" The Philosophical Quarterly 46: 433-447. Obtained from PHIL 250 B1, Winter Term 2014 Further Readings – Ethics. University of Alberta eClass.
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.
...ion could be taken both to find the guilty (those who send the plague and those who allowed it to arrive) and to prevent the same thing happening again. The acceptance that evil will return in the ending of The Plague is a clear indication that evil resides outside the human soul: man is good enough when he is an existentially conscious being. Only the perplexed and inactive man may consider man as evil as the case is with Paneloux and the asthma patient. One may question, why Tarrou calls himself a carrier of plague-germ. The answer is that Tarrou perceives dehumanized doctrine in the name of humanization- an inevitable result of the dogmatic humanization. But once he finds `real saint' in a rebel, his total conception becomes modified. Tat is why, The Plague can be taken as a celebration of human dignity in the face of absurd existence in which evil is superimposed.
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
The plague affected people not only on a physical level but a mental one as well. The mental health of the citizens of Oran was amongst the plague's many victims, it suffered of exhaustion as well as being forced to handle mental confrontations. When the citizens dealt with these issues, some people lost their capacity to love as intently, but overall the general capacity of people to uphold their devotion remained resilient to the challenges the plague provided.
Finally, Rieux concludes by returning to the city s setting. Despite being a port on the Mediterranean Sea, it turns its back on the bay, with the result that it s impossible to see the sea. The sea represents life, freedom, and truth, qualities the materialistic citizens of Oran never possess. When they finally long for them, the plague denies their wish. The citizens had the faintest reason to apprehend the incidents that took place, because they knew nothing but their business and their sad, unsightly town. They would soon realize that life involves more than money and habit, but for the present time, they were left to their inexperienced minds.
Dr. Rieux is absolutely an absurd hero because he does what he has to do. He still works as a doctor instead of hiding in fear, hoping to not get the plague like many other of the citizens. Of course, he does not want to fall ill, but he knows that should not stop him from completely ignoring his duties. Unlike many of his fellow citizens who just cowered in their home, he realizes his responsibility and lived up to his specific duty. Everyone’s belief was that the whole city is condemned to die, which was influenced by the priest's sermon, stating this is punishment for the sins of the townspeople, but Dr.Rieux ignored that and stayed to fight. "There's no question of heroism in all this. It's a matter of common decency. That's an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague is – common decency." (Camus, The Plague). He does not give up and he does not show weakness. Dr. Rieux has a very similar personality to the character Sisyphus in The Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus is sentenced to roll a rock to the top of the mountain and then watch it roll back down, for eternity. “Man...
Character development in The Plague plays a significant role in illustrating the way that man will endure against an incomparable being or force. In this case, the plague. The people of Oran have an understanding, though an indefinite one, of the power of the plague because Dr. Rieux publicly accepts the situation. Rieux makes it clear that he plans to “get busy with [the plague]” (89), but “[he] knew: that this wasn’t the easiest course” (89). In other words, Dr. Rieux us fully aware that he is up against something much stronger than himself. However, he is intent on combating the plague. Dr. Rieux, however, does not represent all of the people. Not all of the people are immediately awake to the fact that the plague is a force to be reckoned with. Because a majority of them do not know the true power of the plague, they have no desire to counteract the early stages of the disease. Without knowing the actual severity of the situation, “the risk of the plague seemed insignificant” (70) to them. The overall nonchalant attitude of the citi...
...ue and each Oranian will have somewhat of a new dimension as an individual. Throughout the chronicle Rieux has commented on the townspeople's failure before the plague to attain a more varied, joyous, appreciative sense of life. Now, he sees lovers wishing to slow their new moments into slow motion so as to savor all of its thrill. For the present human love is violently rekindled.
Additionally Dr. Rieux as an affluent citizen often influences how the plague is viewed throughout the novel along with the small sections when events are viewed through Tarrou’s eyes. In the first place during part three Dr. Rieux questioned the organization of human society when mentioning how both prisoners and guards alike were struck down by disease and goes even further with mentioning how during funerals “In a patch of open ground dotted with lentiscus trees at the far end of the cemetery, two big pits had been dug. One was reserved for the men, the other reserved for the women. Thus, in this respect, the authorities still gave thought to propriety and it was only later that, by the force of things, this last remnant of decorum went
In the novel, the people of Oran are ignorant and selfish by thinking that a fatal plague or epidemic would never harm them. When it does though, everyone goes ballistic and can’t understand why it is happening to them. Dr. Rieux is one of the main people that decided to do something about it. He is a doctor that sees some of the first signs of the plague early on. Being one of the first that acknowledges the problem as a plague came with disagreements amongst everyone. No one believed that there was a plague in their city and couldn’t recognize that they were all in serious danger. As days go by and the death toll increases dramatically, the ci...
The bacteria itself can clog small blood vessels, causing them to burst. The waiting period for the plague is about one to three days, just to show symptoms, soon dead within forty-eight hours. The disease is a major depopulator. Just in Europe did it kill one-third of their population, meanwhile completely destroying two-thirds of China’s population, and decimating many Muslim towns. The disease flared and raged so quickly there wasn’t enough time to bury all the dead, so they mainly waited until the end and held a large memorial service.
of the country, many wanted to abide not only by the law but also by
Secondly, I will tackle the confusion that Austin creates between ‘being obligated’ and ‘being obliged’ to do something. This distinction is made clear by Hart who seeks offers the example of a gunman, which I will go into greater detail in the main body of the essay. From this analysis of Austin I will comment and assess Hart’s own Command Theory of Primary and Secondary rules, drawing attention to the Rule of Recognition and his disconnected relation of law and morality.