What is interesting about this is that World War II is never mentioned in the book, though many consider The Plague to be an allegory of war. Summary Read a Plot Overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. However, it's also a warning about what could happen. There are still some deaths (M. Othon, Rieux's wife, and worst of all, Tarrou), but it's ending. A gripping tale of human unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways in which humankind confronts death, The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance, profoundly relevant to our times. Many die. credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. In the town of Oran, thousands of rats die. Rambert decides to forget about his plan to escape and stay in town to help. Grand gets ill, and the grieving Dr. Rieux gives him the serum, not expecting it to work. People become hysterical and the authorities respond by killing rats. Rereading The Plague over these past weeks … Sociology 110: Cultural Studies & Diversity in the U.S. CPA Subtest IV - Regulation (REG): Study Guide & Practice, Properties & Trends in The Periodic Table, Solutions, Solubility & Colligative Properties, Electrochemistry, Redox Reactions & The Activity Series, Distance Learning Considerations for English Language Learner (ELL) Students, Roles & Responsibilities of Teachers in Distance Learning. Initially Camus was even wary of the word plague. Oran is a real town in Algeria on the Northwest corner of Africa and therefore bordering the Mediterranean. This book is considered an existential masterpiece. Select a subject to preview related courses: To unlock the next lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal The plague itself is thematic. Dr. Rieux and other doctors in the town beg the authorities to take action, but what they do instead is quarantine the town, cutting it off from the rest of the world. They also indicate his continuing insistence that his book carry his metaphysical ideas of the absurd. There rising action is when the young boy died and everybody grieves over this. In the 1990s, a South American city is rocked by the imminent outbreak of a plague. 's' : ''}}. Cottard begins shooting at people and is arrested, and Grand goes back to working on his book. Rambert and Cottard make plans to sneak out of Oran. Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school. The inaction of the Prefect and other authorities becomes about not standing up to injustice, and Rieux and Tarrou are seen as heroes of something like the French Resistance. Study.com has thousands of articles about every In April, thousands of rats stagger into the open and die. Decisions Revisited: Why Did You Choose a Public or Private College? Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. The Plague is a novel written by Albert Camus, an ultimately bleak story about a terrible illness that swept through an unprepared town. Worse, the plague mutates and is now more contagious. Good stuff. Rising action is when the action begins after the exposition and builds up to the climax. Did rats cause the Great Plague of London in 1665? The authorities finally arrange for the daily collection and cremation of the rats. Full Title: The Plague Author: Albert Camus Year: 1947 Genre: Fiction, Novel Publisher: Vintage International ISBN 0-679-72021-9 (trade paperback) Wikipedia page; Author’s Wikipedia Page Summary. While many attempt to flee the city, Dr. Bernard Rieux sends his sick wife away and does his best to care for the plague's victims. It deals with a variation of the bubonic plague, which … Ah, yes, 194–, we remember it fondly. What is the Difference Between Blended Learning & Distance Learning? Log in here for access. That the citizens can’t live without choice, that they must go looking for what they wish to see, is the way an existentialist would describe any man.Yet another lesson in why we should never, ever ignore the setting of a novel. We don’t know exactly what year The Plague takes place, since all the narrator tells us in his introductory chapter is that it was "194–." The reporter, Rambert, trapped in town under the quarantine, tries multiple times to leave and get back to his love in Paris. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Already registered? Tarrou asks Cottard and Rambert to help them battle the illness, but Cottard retorts that he hopes the plague never ends: he's making money in the black market. Lastly is his note that Oran "turns its back on the bay, with the result that it’s impossible to see the sea, you always have to go look for it. All rights reserved. )But let’s talk about the narrator’s description of the actual physical set-up of Oran. If that doesn't answer your questions, let us know by emailing us at support@pinkmonkey.com . The allegorical mode is given a much more detailed and realistically human foundation in Camus’s next novel, The Plague, regarded by many critics as his masterpiece.This time, Camus makes a concerted effort to create a strong sense of place in a real setting and to depict fully rounded and believable characters. just create an account. Another doctor makes a serum, but it doesn't help the son of the police magistrate, M. Othon, and the young boy dies. The Plague, written in 1948, is a fictional account of events that take place in a North African town that is stricken with a fatal contagion. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 308 pages and is available in Paperback format. The history behind Oran (and Algeria) is essential to understanding The Plague. The author was an existentialist philosopher who was also a journalist, a writer, and a member of the French Resistance to the Nazi occupation. In April, thousands of rats climb up from the sewers and die. Rambert’s inquiry about Arab living conditions only makes sense if you know the skinny on the area’s history: France colonized Algeria and it was still French territory in the 1940s; native Arabs were considered "beneath" the French colonists, so racism and the staggering lack of equality – socially and legally – were a big deal.That’s it for geography. Everyone was buying it. In The Plague, how does religion affect the mind and decisions of the town? Albert Camus does this by putting multiple characters in the same situation, the controlled variable, but changing the philosophies each represent, the manipulated variable. Here’s a map. The townspeople start to panic. People keep dying. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny and the human condition. Good stuff. In the book, the exact year of the plague is never given, it's just written as ''194--.'' The Plague Summary. This lesson will focus on the summary and setting of the novel. France made Algeria a colony, and it was still under French control in the 1940s. The Plague is an exploration of caricatures and how they respond in desperate situations. © 2021 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. - How to Infer Intended Meaning, Over 83,000 lessons in all major subjects, {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}}, How to Analyze a Literary Passage: A Step-by-Step Guide, How to Answer Multiple Choice Questions About Literature: Test-Taking Strategies, Indirect Characterization: Definition & Examples, Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho: Summary & Analysis, Character Analysis in Literature: Definition & Examples, Situational Irony in Literature: Definition & Examples, Stream of Consciousness in Literature: Definition & Examples, Biological and Biomedical Fewer and fewer people die each day, and Oran begins to beat the plague. The first edition of the novel was published in 1947, and was written by Albert Camus. 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