Albert Camus The Plague

Humanities IV
5/5/14
Life Albert Camus once said that “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life” (Camus). Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize and whose views contributed to the rise of absurdism. What Camus is saying is that life has plenty of value and to live in the moment with the things that make us happy even if they are absurd. In The Plague Camus shows us the absurdity of life, the struggle of life, and also the value of life through the people in Oran and the main characters that he portrays. Throughout The Plague Camus displays humans violating logic, which can be defined as absurdity. Albert also said that “Accepting the absurdity
of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful” (Camus). Camus believes that absurdity isn’t a bad thing and is a necessary step in life that seems like a dead end but the choices that one makes because they feel like it’s the end could result in happiness.
An example of absurdity is the old man who enjoyed spitting on cats. This had no significant meaning but it made him happy which made it absurd. Another example of absurdity is that innocent people died like the kid while people like the man with asthma was most likely portrayed to die, and the people who were criminals like Cottard survived through the plague despite his past and current criminal activity. Some of the targets that were criticized were the government officials such as the Prefect who take forever to realize the threat of the plague. The town tries to provide reasonable explanations but nothing makes sense of death, and for this reason Camus denounces those who rely on their own logic and think they know the reason, and prefers those who are honest of not knowing the reason for the deaths. Throughout Camus takes a couple shots at religion by placing father Paneloux and Rieux in The Plague. Rieux is an atheist and believes that
religion does not compare to deaths he has seen. Father Paneloux provides two answers in the form of sermons but did not provide help in fighting the plague. When the father died he was carrying a bible and a cross which can further explain the absurdity of life because few would picture a religious figure dying. When the plague is finally receding and things are getting better Tarrou gets the plague for no apparent reason. To further prove the absurdity the man with asthma didn’t keep time with a clock but by counting his peas. Absurdity isn’t just illogical explanations but can also be a rejection of ideals. For example Grand is unable to write a simple sentence due to his fear of being rejected or wrong and Rambert’s inability to see his responsibility to the people of Oran and instead wanting to be with his wife when in reality it’s just an excuse to leave town due to his fear of getting the plague. Throughout Camus raises the question of why we choose to live in a world of death even though we know we are going to die and shows us that life is a constant struggle. Even though death is inevitable, Camus believes that we should fight death and in the process search for meaning to one’s life. In The Plague the heroes such as Rieux and Tarrou are constantly fighting impossible missions that are hopeless but in the process they add meaning to their lifes by the fighting they do for the greater good of Oran. Rieux is especially seen as a fighter because at first he sympathizes with the patients and throughout hardens his heart to specific people even his wife who is dying, for the greater good of Oran. Rambert eventually comes around and sees that his responsibility lies in Oran instead of using his wife as an excuse to leave Oran.
Joseph Campbell once said that “Life is without meaning.
You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning” (Campbell). The choices that one makes are what adds meaning to our lifes. In Oran they are seen as filling their life’s with meaningless tasks. Only after they’ve seen that death is near and possible did they start living and enjoying life. Life is shown as valuable because the plague brought people together, and some went as far as moving out of the hotel to stay with their friends. Before they indulged their thirst for materialism while doing nothing to help save or comfort the sick around them. The poor decisions of others is ignorance and once they realize their responsibility they come together and add meaning to their lifes by working together to stop the
plague.
In Conclusion, Camus shows us the absurdity of life, the struggle of life and that life has meaning through the town of Oran and the main characters. Through these lessons he shows us that rather than being discouraged by the difficulties that life throws at you, we should fight them because it adds meaning to your life. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better” (Emerson).
Works Cited

"Life Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.

Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Modern Library, 1948. Print.

Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Modern Library, 1948. Print.