'The Plague' by Albert Camus

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the novel, 'The Plague' by Albert Camus. According to the paper, the goal of 'The Plague' is to draw the attention of people towards apathy, the general indifference of people towards what was happening in the world at that time. According to the paper, Camus believed that in the face of human suffering, only few people would come forward and help out.

From the Paper:

"People are not interested in other people's problems. It is every man for himself to the extent that doctors are not even willing to accept that a epidemic had broken out. They know how vast the implications of such a disease would be and thus refuse to accept that their country was in the grips of a deadly disease that could affect each and every person and family in the same way. Doctors eventually come to terms with the reality and try treating patients only to realize later that an epidemic doesn't affect one person but an entire nation: "That one must fight against the plagues that enslave man: this is the sole conclusion which, according to Albert Camus, is not open to doubt" (Picon 150). The plague unites the people because they finally realize that it is only through helping each other that they could help themselves. No individual action amounts to much as vicims increase in number each day: "The Plague does, beyond any possible discussion, represent the transition from an attitude of solitary revolt to the recognition of a community whose struggles must be shared" (Sprintzen 103). But the futility of individual action makes people sit up and take notice. Something was deadly wrong with the entire town and it was important that something more serious than individual treatment took place. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bree, Germaine. Albert Camus. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.
• Bree, Germaine. Camus. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1959.
• Camus, Albert. The Plague. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971.
• Doubrovsky, Serge. "The Ethics of Camus." Trans. Sandra Mueller and Jean-Marc Vary. Preuves. 116. 39-49.
• Ellison, David R. Understanding Albert Camus. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1990.

More papers on 'The Plague' by Albert Camus:

• Comparison Essay # 7673 : "Blindness" and "The Plague"
• Book Review # 91302 : "The Plague"
• Analytical Essay # 62845 : "The Plague"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: