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Albert Camus, "Plague": a brief summary of the novel and characterization of the characters

Contrary to delusion, mankind never won the plague. Every year more than 2000 people get sick of this terrible disease, and many of them die. In different epochs, many people devoted their works to this misfortune. Among them is the Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus. "Plague" (the summary of the novel is set forth in section VI) is an amazing work. In it, the writer not only realistically portrayed the life of the city embraced by the epidemic, but also made an analogy between plague and fascism.

The author of the novel "Plague" Albert Camus

The writer was born in the autumn of 1913 in Algeria. With the outbreak of the First World War, the father of the boy was killed, and the care of the family lay on the mother's shoulders.

When Alber grew up, he received a scholarship at the local lyceum, and after his graduation he continued his studies at the University of Oran.

With the birth of fascism in Europe began to wage an active struggle with him Camus. He wrote articles for the independent press, in which he criticized the "brown plague."

In the early 40's, the writer moved to France, where he collaborated with the Resistance Movement. It is noteworthy that unlike the USSR, in which the struggle against fascism was the only way for people to survive, in France the Nazis behaved more tolerantly, and many French people supported them. Participation in the Resistance was equated with the signing of the death penalty and on its own, and not many French people risked their well-being and joined it.

During these years, Camus published in clandestine publications articles criticizing the doctrines of fascism. Later memories of this period of life will form the basis of the novel by Albert Camus "Plague," a brief summary of which is the topic of our today's conversation.

Over time, the writer forms his own philosophy, close to the ideas of existentialism (the irrationality of existence). In this period, the novel "The Stranger" and the philosophical essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" are published.

In 1943, Camus began work on the novel-parable "Plague." However, it is possible to finish and publish it only in 4 years.

In subsequent years, Camus revises his views and writes an essay "The Rebellious Man," because of which many like-minded people begin to treat him negatively, but Camus's books are popular, and in 1957 the writer receives the Nobel Prize.

The life of this man was cut off in January 1960, when he got into a car accident. Albert Camus was buried at the Lourmarin cemetery in the south of France.

Prehistory of the novel

The idea to write a novel about fascism, arose in Camus in the early 40's, when he taught in Oran. However, work on the novel began only in 1943, Albert Camus.

"Plague" (a summary of the chapters discussed below) was completed only in 1947 and in the same year it was published. Not yet recovering from the war, Europe perfectly accepted the novel-parable, since they still remembered the invasion of the "brown plague."

Composition of the novel by chapters

The language of the work is rather dry and devoid of emotions, because it is a novel-chronicle, consisting of the records of Dr. Bernard Rie and arrived shortly before the epidemic of Jean Tarre.

In total, the novel consists of 5 chapters, each of which illustrates a certain emotional state of people in relation to the plague:

I chapter - "Denial".

Chapter II - "Wrath".

Chapter III - "Permissiveness".

Chapter IV - "Depression and fatigue".

V chapter - "Humility."

The main characters of the novel

It is first necessary to consider the main characters in the novel before beginning a brief retelling of the content.

The plague (Camus Albert accented on this) is the main character of the work. She is omnipresent and inexorable, senseless and merciless - absolute evil. Most of the other characters are heroes fighting with it. So, the leader of them can be called Dr. Bernard Rie. This swarthy, dark-haired and brown-eyed man is 35 years old. All his experiences the doctor tries to keep with him. He suffers from separation from his wife, but does not complain and does not attempt to escape from the city, and day after day, despite the fatigue, continues to treat the sick. His credo: " You need to be a madman , blind or rascal , to reconcile with the plague ."

The opposite of the doctor is a young Paris journalist Raymond Ramber. Despite much experience (fought in Spain), the reporter remains a very emotional person. Accidentally finding himself in a plagued city, he tries to get out of him for the sake of returning to his beloved wife. At first he behaves as if everything that happens around him does not concern him. But soon he changes his attitude and, having got a chance to escape, remains in the city and selflessly struggles with the plague. In the original sketches for the novel this character was not.

Another bright character is Jean Tarre. He grew up as a child, but realizing that others live worse, he decided to devote his life to helping them. After a while Tarr discovers that his attempts to help, he often made things worse. Despite the bitter disappointment, with the advent of the plague, Tarr leaves his philosophizing and organizes the first volunteer medical unit, helping to fight the infection. In the end, this hero dies from the plague on the eve of victory over it.

Father Panl. This image embodies all the nuances of the Christian worldview. At first he treats the epidemic as the Lord's punishment for the sins of the inhabitants of the city. However, over time, it turns out that from the infection both innocent children and old sinners perish. Despite this, the priest does not lose his faith and accepts what is happening with humility. He becomes an assistant to the atheist Rie and cares for the sick, sparing no effort. Having fallen ill, the priest refuses treatment and accepts death with a crucifixion in his hands.

Minor characters

Having become acquainted with the main and minor heroes of the novel Camus ("Plague"), the summary of the work will be easier to understand.

A small freelance worker of the City Hall, 50-year-old Joseph Gran is not at all like a hero. In normal circumstances, he is a classic loser, unable to adapt to life. Because of this, he is poor and abandoned by his wife. The novel of his entire life remains at the level of the first phrase about the Amazon. However, at the time of the common misfortune, this little man wakes up courage. He is a hero, but not one who rushes to the embrasure. During the chaos of the epidemic, Grano manages to remain calm and continue to regulate the work of the squads day after day. Having got sick with a plague, he miraculously recovers, and this incident becomes the beginning of a victory over the disease.

Smuggler Kottar - a vivid example of those people who have adversity only on hand. While everyone is dying from the epidemic, he rejoices at the onset of chaos, because of which he avoids the prison. He manages to put together a fortune during a terrible misfortune, but inner emptiness and loneliness lead him to insanity. At the beginning of the novel, he tries to hang himself, but this suicidal attempt is more like a cry for help. Behind his ostentatious indifference lies loneliness, with which the hero can not cope.

There are several female images in the novel. First and foremost, the wife of the doctor is a selfless woman, who until the last tries not to worry her husband and hides the deterioration of her health.

Rie's mother looks as good as that. She shows kindness and care to her son and his friends. No wonder Tarra admires her in her notes.

The novel mentions the faithful spouse of Rambert, who was waiting for her husband all the time, while he was locked up in quarantine.

Albert Camus, The Plague: A Brief History of the Novel

Having dealt with the composition of the novel and the main actors, it is worth moving on to the plot. Created in his work a fairly clear architecture Camus. "Plague" (a summary of the chapters is better stated) consists of 5 parts.

So, I chapter. It tells about the Algerian seaside town of Oran.

In early April, the doctor finds on the steps of his house a dead rat, and later one more. Spending his wife on the train (she leaves for treatment in a sanatorium), Rie discusses with the local investigator the increase in the number of rats in the city. In the afternoon, the doctor gives an interview to a correspondent from Paris, Ramber.

A few days later, the rats in the city began to crawl out of their holes with whole flocks and perish. Their number so increased that only one day was burned 6 231 rat corpse.

Soon the watchman from the doctor's house fell ill with a strange illness and died. By that time, the rats had disappeared, and people began to suffer from an unknown fever with a fatal outcome. Rie gathers colleagues to find out what kind of illness. The result of the analysis shows that this is an unusual kind of plague.

The city authorities were slow to react to the epidemic, and only through the efforts of Rie was able to get them to carry out preventive measures. Meanwhile, the number of deaths reaches 30 per day, and only then the city is closed for quarantine.

Chapter II. Even after the beginning of the quarantine, the citizens could not in any way understand the reality of what was happening. However, when the number of deaths exceeded several hundred, they began to fear. Many residents were sent on vacation at their own expense, gasoline and essential products were sold limited. Many shops were closed, and only cafes flourished.

At the end of the first month of quarantine, a journalist came to the doctor and asked Ramber to help him to leave the city. Rie could not help the guy, and he began to look for other ways through the smuggler Kottar.

Meanwhile, more than 100 people died from infection per day. To put things in order, Taru persuades Rie to organize sanitary teams. Ramber, waiting for the opportunity to escape from the city, also begins to work in the sanitary squads.

Chapter III. Cases of looting have become frequent in the city. The poor suffered more than the rich, but the plague spared no one. There were not enough coffins, and the bodies of the dead began to be burnt. People were in despair.

Chapter IV. The plague continues to rage. Ramber, having the opportunity to escape from the city, but, inspired by the example of a doctor, it remains to work in the sanitary squads, communicating with his wife. A new anti-plague vaccine has been developed in the city, but it does not help. Soon the priest Panlu dies. Gran falls ill, but suddenly he recovers, and after him a few more sick, and it becomes clear that the epidemic is on the decline.

V chapter. Despite the gradual retreat of the plague, city residents could not believe this. However, on the eve of the victory over the plague, Tarra fell ill and died, which even deceived the doctor more than the subsequent news of his wife's death at the sanatorium.

In February, quarantine was removed from the city, and people were happy to meet with their relatives after a long separation. The doctor continued to work and thought about the fact that the plague virus was not killed and is able to return at any time.

Symbols in the novel

Despite the apparent simplicity of the plot, the novel Camus "Plague" (the summary of the work above) is full of characters.

The most important symbol in the novel-parable is the plague itself. Its distribution occurs contrary to all laws of logic and justice. She spares no one: the noble dreamer Tarro and the honest priest Panlu are dying. At the same time, the old Gran recovered, and the smuggler Kottar did not get sick at all. In the narrow sense of the plague, this is fascism, which almost destroyed Europe. However, Camus offered to understand it as a symbol of a global ineradicable evil, which is always there, ready to attack, and which must be constantly combated.

The precursors of the plague, the rats, are also symbolic. They are like small weaknesses of people who usually bring only minor inconveniences, but with the growth of their numbers they can cause a big trouble. So, at first no one pays attention to rats until they become many. It is noteworthy that at the end of the novel, rats appear again in the city as a symbol of the fact that a person always has small weaknesses, and no one knows which of them can turn into a future disaster. In this case, you can draw an analogy with one of the "fathers" of fascism Adolf Hitler. Because of the difficult relationships in the family, he had a negative attitude towards Jews since childhood. In particular, this lack of it had no effect whatsoever, but when the Führer became the leader of the great people, it was this petty weakness that led to the death of millions of descendants of Abraham.

Screening

Despite the popularity of the novel, it was filmed only in 1992. The eponymous film is deprived of many plot elements of the novel, while it has interesting finds. So, to convey the atmosphere of the book, the film completely lacks musical accompaniment. In addition, the atmosphere of the film is modernized, and because of this it looks even more frightening.

In this article, we discussed the plot of a serious novel, however, only a brief summary is presented to your attention. Albert Camus ("Plague" - far from his only work with a philosophical meaning) surprisingly accurately conveyed the atmosphere of the plague of the city, and it would not be superfluous for everyone to read this book entirely.

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