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Camus ~ The Plague (1947)

Camus ~ The Plague (1947). The plague strikes Oran Setting is in the 1940s in Oran, a French port on the Algerian coast Oran is an ordinary, ugly, commercially-oriented place with an “absurd lay-out” (ML 23; VI 24). Plague begins

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Camus ~ The Plague (1947)

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  1. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • The plague strikes Oran • Setting is in the 1940s in Oran, a French port on the Algerian coast • Oran is an ordinary, ugly, commercially-oriented place with an “absurd lay-out” (ML 23; VI 24). • Plague begins • Dr. Rieux sees his wife off to a sanitarium in the mountains Camus - The Plague - slide 1

  2. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Reflects how he has been remiss in his attentions to his wife. Significance of this. • Meanings of the plague • Occupation of a city during time of war (ML 34; VI 37) • Resistance of nature to human choices (ML 35; VI 37). Cf. Sartre Camus - The Plague - slide 2

  3. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Encounter with nothingness--the absurd, meaninglessness • Natural evil • A boundary situation Camus - The Plague - slide 3

  4. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Theme 1 - the absurd; the experience of nothingness • The Existentialists took this theme from Nietzsche • For the Existentialists, there are two main sources for this experience • 1. The rejection of God and of all transcendental values Camus - The Plague - slide 4

  5. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • 2. Epistemological skepticism • There is no certain knowledge • Scientific knowledge cannot answer the most important questions in life • Camus in “An Absurd Reasoning” states: “Whether the earth or the sun revolves around the other is a matter of profound indifference.” Camus - The Plague - slide 5

  6. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Rejection of the Enlightenment faith in science. • Knowledge cannot give meaning to life & cannot answer the most fundamental questions about life. • Cf. Plato - knowledge is salvation; knowledge is one of the highest values and that which is most worth pursuing Camus - The Plague - slide 6

  7. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Joseph Grand • Occupation? • Never gets raises or promotions because he “couldn’t find his words” (ML 42; VI 45) • Separated from his wife Camus - The Plague - slide 7

  8. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Has a secret project • “Gentlemen, hats off!” (ML 94; VI 102) • Interpretation: His way of fighting against the absurdity of life • When plague begins, he works on sanitary squads; his city job suffers Camus - The Plague - slide 8

  9. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Rieux reflects that Grand is an “insignificant and obscure hero who had to his credit only a little goodness of heart and a seemingly absurd ideal” (ML 126; VI 137). • Has a secret project Camus - The Plague - slide 9

  10. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Does he get the plague? • Does he survive? • At end of plague, writes to his wife (ML 276; VI 306). • Theme 2 - boundary situation • The plague causes a crisis in the lives of the people of Oran; it forces them to reevaluate their lives. It coaxes them out of routine (ML 22; VI 23). Camus - The Plague - slide 10

  11. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Theme 3 - Resistance against life & nature as we find it • All persons encounter meaninglessness at some point in their lives • How can this be faced and transcended? • One must resist it, fight against it (see ML 122; VI 133 - “Many fledgling moralists . . .”) • “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942) • The myth Camus - The Plague - slide 11

  12. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • How does Sisyphus find meaning in his punishment? • Resistance for the sake of what? Camus - The Plague - slide 12

  13. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Raymond Rambert • Occupation? • Has mistress in Paris • Tries repeatedly to escape • His initial form of resistance • Decides to stay; joins Rieux in fighting plague • This is his new form of resistance Camus - The Plague - slide 13

  14. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Does he survive the plague? • Theme 4 - transcending absurdity by commitment to other persons • Rieux: “If there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love” (ML 271; VI 300). Camus - The Plague - slide 14

  15. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Camus in Notebooks, 1942-1951: “What balances the absurd is the community of men fighting against it. And if we choose to serve that community, we choose to serve the dialogue carried to the absurd against any policy or falsehood or of silence. That’s the way one is free with others” (126). Camus - The Plague - slide 15

  16. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Theme 5 - Theory of stages; brings themes 1, 3, & 4 together • Not a descriptive theory; rather prescriptive - a moral theory • Three moments or stages in achieving mature personhood • 1. Awareness of absurdity • 2. Resistance to this absurdity • 3. To fellow human persons Camus - The Plague - slide 16

  17. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Jean Tarrou • The chronicler, diarist • At the outset of the plague, immediately volunteers to help; organizes sanitary squads • Reveals to Rieux that he has already had the plague • Story about his flight from home for the sake of creating a more perfect world Camus - The Plague - slide 17

  18. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Then came to realize that no ideology could justify “such butcheries” (252). • Even the best of the revolutionaries could not keep from killing “because such was the logic by which they live” (ML 228; VI 252). Camus - The Plague - slide 18

  19. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • In The Rebel (1950), Camus proposes that revolt must have limits. • Revolt must never be for absolute (perfect) justice, but only for a “measure of justice.” • The rebel must be a scrupulous, hesitant, careful, reflective. • Does Tarrou survive the plague? Camus - The Plague - slide 19

  20. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Paneloux • Jesuit priest, learned & militant • 1st sermon (ML 86ff.; VI 94ff.) • The plague has come upon “you” because of your evil ways • The plague is God’s punishment • Problem of evil – “Calamity has come to you, my brethren, and my brethren, you deserve it” (ML 86; VI 94). • Helps in sanitary camps; witnesses death of Othon’s son. Camus - The Plague - slide 20

  21. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • 2nd sermon (ML 198ff.; VI 220ff.) • Opens with “we” • Rejects explanation of plague given in 1st sermon • Adopts a Kierkegaardian Christianity -- belief which goes beyond understanding • Becomes ill; refuses medical treatment Camus - The Plague - slide 21

  22. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Dies • Camus’ viewpoint: Paneloux refused to resist the plague • Othon • Occupation? • Has two children whom he marches into his favorite restaurant like “performing poodles” (ML 106; VI 115). Camus - The Plague - slide 22

  23. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Othon is very rigid, formal, unvarying in his habits • Son gets the plague & dies • Othon volunteers to help in the camps; becomes a camp manager • Shoelaces untied • Papers lost; he accepts situation. • Contacts plague & dies Camus - The Plague - slide 23

  24. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Cottard • Role in novel • At home with the plague • After the plague is over, he goes insane • Dr. Bernard Rieux • Sees wife off to sanitarian before plague breaks out Camus - The Plague - slide 24

  25. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Man of habit and routine • Events like the plague help “men to rise above themselves” (ML 115; VI 125). • Rieux says that he thinks he is on the right road “in fighting against creation as he found it” (ML 116; VI 127). • Rieux’s form of resistance is fighting the plague through the practice of medicine. Camus - The Plague - slide 25

  26. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Comparison of the practice of medicine with the practice of life • In both one must sometimes make choices based on insufficient knowledge • “A man can’t cure and know at the same time, so let’s cure as quickly as we can. That’s the more urgent job” (ML 189; VI 210). Camus - The Plague - slide 26

  27. Camus ~ The Plague (1947) • Theme 6 - Skepticism about reason; the importance of choice • On the really important questions of life, once must make choices which go beyond knowledge • See beautiful closing paragraph – ML 278; VI 308. Camus - The Plague - slide 27

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