Parallels in The Plague
As we have started a new book this week, The Plague, we have been introduced to a new writing style, narration, characters, and setting. Personally, I prefer this book to the others we have read this semester as it has more of a conventional storyline, and I find its underlying analytical and philosophical aspects captivating. However, I'' leave that topic for another day and today I will talk about the ambiguity of the setting and narrator in The Plague.
We are given little information about where the book is taking
place. We know that the town is called Oran and it is sometime around the
1940s. However, other than this, Camus refuses to give us more information,
framing the setting as unimportant. This lack of information forces us to think
of Oran as just “some town” instead of a specific city with distinguishing/interesting
features. Doing this, Camus accomplishes conveying the observation of a
society’s reactions to the plague as humanity instead of just this single
town’s reaction to the plague. In addition, since the town is also pretty
sparse and doesn’t have much going on, the reader can easily accept Oran as a
sort of “control” that can represent most of society because Oran doesn’t have
any unique features. To build on top of this, Camus intentionally holds back
information about the narrator of this story to the reader, achieving the
notion that the narrator can be any one of us. This fact invokes a feeling of
relatability and connection to what is happening in the book.
Camus’ choices to make both elements irrelevant showcase his
background in philosophy as we learned recently in class that he was a
philosopher. It seems that Camus has insight into the nature of human and
societal organizations. I must admit that I was surprised how relevant his
portrayal of a reaction to a plague scenario was to our current affair. For
example, the city officials tried not to alarm citizens by doing the least in
informing citizens about the severity of the plague. President Trump took a
similar route when he downplayed the severity of the virus supposedly to prevent
alarm amongst the public. Needless to say, I’m excited to see how this book
progresses and to see more parallels between The Plague’s world and ours.
All the books we have read so far have really been ordinary people living ordinary lives, it is refreshing to have something a little different. I definitely agree with you that the setting of Oran was picked because of how undistinguished and how it is not unique. You are not meant to know anything about the town or to have any preconceived ideas as to what the town is like. Camus wants to give you all the information himself so he controls what you know.
ReplyDeleteI've also personally enjoyed this book the most from the ones we've read. I think your observations about the bleak descriptions of the town are also spot on. It really feels intentional, which I'm sure it was. I also really like the mention of the philosophical themes floating through this story. They give insights to different perspectives and rationalizations people go through in such times of struggle. Very useful when considering how to conduct ourselves in such situations (which unfortunately has become a reality, rather than a philosophical exercise).
ReplyDeletePersonally, I enjoyed The Mezzanine out of all the novels we've read so far, but this novel comes in at a close second. I think Camus chooses to limit information given about certain aspects because this novel is supposed to be more about a commentary about Existentialism and its origins/effects than that of an accurate description of a plague. With that being said, I agree that there are striking similarities between those who downplay the severity of the plague in the novel and authorities who do the same today.
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