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Albert Camus: The Plague and Human Existence

Explore Camus' iconic work, The Plague, and his profound concepts of existence and revolt. Dive into the characters and themes that make this novel a timeless masterpiece.

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Albert Camus: The Plague and Human Existence

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  1. Albert Camus The Plague

  2. Albert Camus (1913-1960) • Born in Algeria to a working class colonial family • Father was killed in WWI • Mother: mute, illiterate, supported family by cleaning houses • Was able to study due to scholarships • Joined the Communist party in 1934 (left it two years later) • Established the Theater for the Worker in Algiers • Took part in Resistance in France • Later edited journal Combat • Nobel prize in 1957 for: illuminating the problems of the human conscience in our time” • Died in a car accident in 1960

  3. Principal works: • The Stranger (1942) • The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) • Caligula (1944) • The Plague (1947) • The Fall (1956) • Exile and the Kingdom (1957)

  4. Camus’ Nobel acceptance speech: • “The writer’s function is not without its arduous duties. By definition, he cannot serve today those who make history; he must serve those who are subject to it.”

  5. The Plague • extract appeared clandestinely in a collection of Resistance texts in occupied France • “the novel was initially produced as an underground testimony, as a verbal action of resistance which, as such, is not a simple statement or description of the historical conflict it narrates, but an actual intervention in this conflict” (Felman, 98-99)

  6. Camus’ concepts of existence and revolt • Existence: makes humans different from things • The power within us to be free • Power to understand • Ability to feel passion • Things: • Can be pushed by forces around them • Are in bondage to their environment • Cannot understand • Are passionless • They are, they do not exist • When we give up liberty, lucidity and passionate involvement with the world, we become a mere thing

  7. Revolt • The movement from “thinghood” to full existence • Phases: • Rock-like somnolence • A shock or crisis during which the absurdity of the world around us becomes clear and inescapable • Free choice of a reaction or attitude toward this absurdity • The use of our freedom to act (to do something about this absurdity) • Think about: Where we see these phases in The Plague?

  8. The Plague • Opening of the novel: • The narrator • The city • the inhabitants • the plague as metaphor

  9. The characters: • Michel • Dr. Rieux • Tarrou • Grand • Rambert • Cottard • Prefect • Paneloux • Othan

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