My Take - The Plague by Albert Camus

While facing a pandemic nothing can be more relatable and relevant than The Plague by Albert Camus. As is suggested by the self-explanatory title this novel brings forth the plight of the people of Oran who had been besieged by the epidemic of plague. Though set in the fictitious town of Oran during the 1940s, the novel has become more relevant than most of the contemporary novels, given the abnormal and tumultuous times that we are facing.

The novel is styled as a chronicle narrated by an unnamed narrator whose identity is revealed at the very last chapter. Though the novel emphatically portrays the suffering of the residents of the plague-stricken town yet nowhere does it get mushy. Rather, it maintains its stoic, objective tone throughout, which I feel is quite an achievement given the poignant nature of the events that are described. Another feature of the novel that appealed me was the impersonality of the chronicler. Though the novel is styled as a personal chronicle of the plague-ravaged months but the chronicler does not thrust his personal opinions on anyone nor does he presume that he has the right to speak of their sufferings, rather he allows the myriad unfortunate sufferers to speak for themselves.

The novel does not focus on any particular character rather it gives ample space to an array of characters thereby reiterating the fact that each person deals with his/her sorrow in their own unique way even if the nature of sorrow is same for everyone. Retaining the uniqueness of each individual suffering is one of the most striking features of this novel. The novel is replete with several hard-hitting truths about human nature which ring especially stridently now that we find ourselves besieged with similar threats (Corona virus in our case) as had once besieged Oran.

I think no line had ever been written in the history of humankind that is truer than the following quoted lines:

“The plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.”

The plague described in the novel is not simply the actual pestilence that ravaged Oran rather it had many symbolic significance as well. Our inability to feel for our fellow humans, our complicity in the outrageous order of things, and our complacency with status quo are in fact the subtle and insidious forms of plague, which we must strive to fight off.

The Plague is one of those few novels which lay bare the rawest sufferings and plights that are shared by the entire humanity. The novel depicts human nature in its rawest and most vulnerable aspects without the least veneering. But, when all is said and done, one must never forget the lesson that pestilence teaches us: “that there are more things to admire in men than to despise.”

My rating - 4 ⭐