The plague is a horrifying and fatal illness that is the subject of the novel The Plague. The book's characters are portrayed as being the main elements that propel the story because of their empathy and capacity to face their fears. Through them, Camus conveys the uncertainty, the dread, and the separation from family and friends as well as the outside world. The characters are also used by Camus to suggest the ultimate inherent humanism, which appears as a metaphor for life, compassion, and self-sufficiency. The major characters of The Plague made a significant contribution to the fight against the terrible illness and gave people inspiration to endure the suffering. This is one of the main characters in the book and the narrator of the plague. Camus uses Rieux indicating him to being a hero in fighting the plague. Rieux is among the very first individuals who argued that the stringent sanitation should be taken to battle the epidemic. He pushes the authority into taking action concerning the plague. Rieux sternly fights the plague even though his efforts are not heard and thus making little difference. The fact that he is separated from his wife does not bring him down in his battles. His main aim is to relieve the society from the social suffering in the terrified and confused Oran population. Rieux is shown to be a hero because, despite her understanding of the dreadful disease, he does not choose to run away but confronts the authorities and tells them to take actions that will stop the spared of the plague. He notes that “That being so, it has small importance whether you call it a plague or some rare kind of fever. The important thing is to prevent the killing off half the population of this town” (Camus 44). The doctor chooses to stay, “face the fear of death and remains altruistic in filling the duty of being a doctor in the community of Oran” (Gale 29). His actions in saving the society from the plague are seen when he involves himself in isolating the infected and the uninfected while at the same time records the number of deaths. Even though the terrible disease seems to take triumph over him, he does not give up in trying and assisting people.
Besides the epidemic, Rieux is also affected by the fact that he is detached from his wife who is dying in a hospital that is approximately 100 miles from where he is. Camus writes, “Rieux told him that his wife was under treatment in a sanatorium some distance from the town” (Camus 69). It is vivid from the book that Rieux longs to be with his wife but chooses to save the society. Through this fact, Camus presents Doctor Rieux to be a hero in the fighting the plague. Certainly, there is a noble aspect in Rieux. He is seen to be loving the people of the city in the same way he loves his mother and friends. The book indicates that “At that moment he knew what his mother was thinking, and that she loved him. But he knew, too, that to love someone means relatively little; or, rather, that love is never strong enough to find the words befitting it” (Camus 236). Doctor Rieux is altruistic and the reader is able to tell that he does not fear of contracting the disease. The reader can deduce that the doctor does not want the lethal plague to result in more deaths.
Jean Tarrou
Jean Tarrou is another character that Camus uses to indicate how devastating the plague is to the society through the greater texture of the plague chronicles. Tarrou is seen vacating the city when the plague starts spreading. He becomes an outsider and his beliefs concerning the social and personal responsibility are same to Rieux. However, he is more philosophical compared to Doctor Rieux. Tarrou does not believe that God exists and therefore “does not believe in the illusion of an intrinsic rational and moral meaning in death, suffering, and human existence” (Maze 15). Tarrou is significant in contributing to the efforts and battles of anti-plague which is in accordance with his code of ethics. Tarrou makes an observation of the development of the plague in the city along with its mood in a genuinely objective manner.
The reader is able to note that Tarrou is a humanist who does believe in in the values of human living and he is enthusiastic to risk his life for him to help other people. He is also implied to be a hero and is not terrified by the spreading of the plague in the city, but rather chooses to fight it. According to his thinking, he indicates that he has already experienced the disease and has a much wider perception of the plague that befalls the city people. He states that “I learned that even those who were better than the rest could not keep themselves nowadays from killing or letting others kill. Yes, I've been ashamed ever since; I have realized that we all have the plague, and I have lost my peace” (Camus 206). In the book, Tarrou is an important character who also helps in the fight against the plague.
Raymond Rambert
Raymond Rambert is a character in the book whom Camus uses as a journalist who comes to the city to carry out a research concerning the sanitary conditions of the city. However, he ends up being trapped in the city and he desperately struggles in finding ways of escaping the city to join his wife who is in Paris. Rambert says that “The truth is that she and I have been together only short time, and we suit each other perfectly. All I wanted to know was whether you couldn't possibly give me a certificate that says that I do have not had this damn disease” (Camus 72). He is used by the character to present a contrast between him and Doctor Rieux. He is obsessed with getting to his wife and tries to do everything he can to escape. Through the help of Doctor Rieux, he finally realizes that there are other people who suffer the same fate. Rieux changes Rambert’s mind and asks him "Would you agree to my working with you till I find some way of getting out of the town?" (Camus 137). He undergoes a transformation from the plague suffering and changes from an eccentric egotist to becoming a caring humanist who is obligated to taking care of the suffering people.
Father Paneloux
Another dynamic character in the book is Father Paneloux who is a “Jesuit Priest in the city” (Fowler 17). When the predicament of the disease starts spreading in the Oran city, Father Paneloux delivers a sermon to his frightened, terrified and confused congregation and even instills more fear in them. Father Paneloux is an important character who Camus uses to portray how detrimental the plague is. He tells his congregation that the coming of the plague is a sign of a punishment from God for the people’s sins. When the plague is seen to spread more, Father Paneloux modifies his argument and sees the plague as a test of faith. Through his religious beliefs, Father Paneloux is used to show how people who are religious can be misleading to people through their influence (Maze 36). Despite, being known that the plague arose from the poor sanitation, he misleads people by saying that it is a punishment from God and a test of faith. He is seen to condemn the people of the city of being sinners and tells them that they need to need to repent because they are hopeless. He states utters that “For plague is the flail of God, and the world his threshing-floor, and implacably He will thresh out His harvest until the wheat is separated from the chaff” (Camus 81). Father Paneloux presumes the plague of being a punishment of the people’s lifestyle that they currently lead. However, after witnessing the death of an innocent child, he becomes confused in his faith and severely challenged in his opinion. Father Paneloux is used to show that there is still hope if people are to repent their sins.
Conclusion
Indeed, the majority of Camus characters in his book are used to portray humanism which is the center of the plague epidemic. The plague is fatal and an epidemic which is highly infectious claiming people’s lives. Through characters such as Doctor Rieux and Tarrou, Camus brings out an element of humanism in the plague which is a sigh of hope to the city people. These characters are seen to overcome their fears, the longing of being with their families and their confusion in battling the plagued stricken city.
Work Cited
Camus Albert. The Plague. Westminster, London. Penguin Books, 1974.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Albert Camus's The Plague. Gale, Cengage Learning. 2015.
Fowler Austin. Albert Camus': "The Stranger", "The Plague" and Other Works. New York. Monarch Press, 1965
Maze. J. R. Albert Camus: Plague and Terror, Priest and Atheist. New York, Peter Lang, 2010
