Narration of The Plague
In light of finishing The Plague, I would like to analyze our now-revealed narrator, Dr. Bernard Rieux, and how effective he is as an objective storyteller. As we all learn at the end of the story, Dr. Rieux is revealed as the narrator of this ordeal and he makes a point to emphasize that he tried his very best to portray an objective narrative of what happened in Oran. As he is a doctor, Rieux has had many interactions with various townspeople, making him a good candidate for being an informed narrator, or at least one that tells many points of view of the situation at hand. Notably, he mostly only recounts what people say and do, not adding in any of his own input. Even though he does break this neutrality when he talks about Cottard because he judges Cottard for being ignorant and self-centered, not thinking about others at all, I don’t think this is significant enough to discredit the work Rieux has done as an objective narrator.
Rieux is an atheist and holds a strong set of ethics, approaching
the plague with a scientific outlook. He also decides to stay during the plague
instead of leaving Oran to be with his wife. Even though his efforts are
futile, he keeps fighting, refusing to ever stop combating death. He doesn’t
let his personal feelings and self-preservation get in the way of his work,
including his feelings for his wife, as he does not want to get distracted by
thoughts of her. However, after the death of Tarrou, we finally see emotion
from Rieux. I think that the buildup of all his exhaustion and emotion finally
floods out when Tarrou passes away. This glimpse into Rieux’s agony reveals how
hard it must have been for him to be an objective narrator. His determination
to be unbiased relying on rationale and ethics is truly admirable.
I fully agree with the high praise you have for Rieux in your first paragraph. However, I think it is important to look at his buildup and subsequent outburst of emotion at the end of the book through a more critical light. By praising him for bottling up his emotions, we're perpetuating two problematic ideologies. One, that healthcare workers are "heroes" (which means well but takes away from the humanity of these workers by immortalizing them). And two, that in order to be strong and reliable one must hide their feelings (we have the patriarchy to thank for this one). So while I agree that Rieux deserves praise for his dedication to fighting the plague, he also deserves sympathy for what he's gone through. Our respect for him shouldn't only be rooted in his stoicism. Sorry this turned into a bit of a tangent.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Rieux did a decent job of being unbiased (though not perfect, as expected with the ordeals Rieux went through). And I think that since Rieux waited until the end to reveal his identity, he was able provide a more impartial narration as he was able to distance himself from the events in the book. As you mentioned, his various interactions with the people of Oran during the plague gave him a variety of perspectives and experiences to draw on to show what different people thought about the plague and how they reacted to it.
ReplyDeleteThe reveal of Rieux as the narrator was somewhat disappointing to me being perfectly honest. The story followed Rieux for the majority of the narrative and then at the end he just says, "oh by the way it was me the whole time." I do feel like he tried his best to be objective but that style almost detracted from the story for me. I think the story would have been just as good if not better if Rieux did not write as a 3rd person narrator and instead told the story through his eyes and added in the pieces of information he gathered later.
ReplyDeleteI think one important part of Dr. Rieux's character is that he is really the embodiment of Camus' central philosophy or idea of responsibility. He is the one making an effort to solve the problem at hand for the common good while others look to selfish was to benefit themselves and their desires. However, as you mention, there is another important part of his character that stems from the huge build-up of suffering from watching people die in front of him without anything to save them while their families look up to Dr. Rieux for guidance and for reassurance, something Rieux calls the "never-ending defeat". I kind of took Dr. Rieux as our narrator from the beginning, so I was not too surprised when Dr. Rieux confessed he wanted to be an "impartial observer", but in general I believed the narration and thought it was pretty reliable.
ReplyDeleteRieux is admirable in many ways. However, as a character I find him uninspired and frankly uninteresting. It seems is though Camus' goal is to subvert the typical trope of a hero, but rieux is just a good doctor trying his best without much else going on. I don't find his insights to be insightful or his thoughts to be as thoughtful as maybe Camus wants us to think.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Rieux was mostly successful in his attempt to give an objective account of events, aside from a few notable instances where he "slipped up." What he is less successful at, though (at least in my opinion) is his attempt to hide his identity. From the very beginning, I noticed that, though he was being described in the third person, I got the sense that we were seeing much more of Rieux's inner thoughts and feelings compared to those of the other characters.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't think it's possible to have a perfectly unbiased narrator, I do agree that Rieux is pretty much as good as it gets. I wasn't completely certain from the beginning that Rieux was really the narrator. It seemed too obvious. I didn't see a point in trying to hide the true identity of the narrator while also making it really obvious. I expected some surprising reveal, but I guess Rieuxs the only option that makes sense. I'm not sure what Camus was trying to accomplish with this narration style. The only thing I can think of is that he could've been trying to give the book some personal flair that wouldn't interfere with the objective nature of the novel.
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