Sunday, August 26, 2012
The mindful doctor
It is argued that the
protagonist, Dr. Bernard Rieux, does not pay any attention to the influx of
rats in his town of Oran, however, I disagree. Though Rieux is preoccupied with
his wife’s illness he continues to show an unwavering concern toward the new
rodents.
Dr. Bernard Rieux first discovers a rat when he is leaving his apartment. Occupied by thoughts of his wife he does not pay much attention to the animal. Nonetheless, the narrator explains his inattention as being done “on the spur of the moment,” (7). After stepping out onto the street he soon realizes the significance of the dead rat and proceeds to tell M. Michel who is his concierge. The narrator goes on to describe Rieux as being “categorical” (7) when trying to validate that he really did see the rodent. Furthermore, Rieux notices “that the rats are a great topic of conversation” (9) between his patients. When Rieux visits with the journalist, Raymond Rambert, he suggests to Rambert to, “say something about the extraordinary number of dead rats that were being found in the town,” (12). This demonstrates that Rieux is attentive to the worries of his patients.
Dr. Bernard Rieux first discovers a rat when he is leaving his apartment. Occupied by thoughts of his wife he does not pay much attention to the animal. Nonetheless, the narrator explains his inattention as being done “on the spur of the moment,” (7). After stepping out onto the street he soon realizes the significance of the dead rat and proceeds to tell M. Michel who is his concierge. The narrator goes on to describe Rieux as being “categorical” (7) when trying to validate that he really did see the rodent. Furthermore, Rieux notices “that the rats are a great topic of conversation” (9) between his patients. When Rieux visits with the journalist, Raymond Rambert, he suggests to Rambert to, “say something about the extraordinary number of dead rats that were being found in the town,” (12). This demonstrates that Rieux is attentive to the worries of his patients.
The
last scene in the novel takes place in Rieux’s apartment when he visits his
sick concierge - who he thinks might have an influenza brought upon by the
rats. When Rieux realizes there is nothing he can do, he calls the hospital. Ultimately,
M. Michel dies by his side. The impact of Michel’s death foreshadows Rieux’s passionate
desire to find a cure to the disease spread by the rodents.
A Powerful Introduction
The Plague by Albert Camus is a novel
chronologically written that takes place in the small town of Oran: a French
port on the Algerian coast. Camus begins the story detailing Oran as monotonous
and unappealing. This rendition of the
town will later explain the bias with which the story is told. The author depicts the people of the town as
individuals who “work hard but solely with the object of getting rich, “(4) foreshadowing
their egotism. The introduction of the story portrays them as followers of a
simplistic lifestyle; ironically, the novel then sets out to tell of an
epidemic that changes the municipality forever.
The
despondency of the characters is established through a series of dialogues. A young journalist visits Dr. Bernard Rieux,
the protagonist, to interview him for a story he is writing. Rieux quickly
changes the subject of the interview by asking if the journalist “would be
allowed to publish a condemnation of the present state of things,” (11). The
narrator proceeds to explain that “the language was that of a man who was sick
and tired of the world he lived in,” (11). This is further emphasized when Dr. Reiux sees
a man who attempts to commit suicide. Though the town of Oran is portrayed as a
place where individuals can lead a tranquil life, the beginning of the story
corroborates the dejection of its inhabitants. Camus demonstrates this
unhappiness early in the novel to set the tone for the rest of the story.
Overall feel for the beginning
The opening paragraphs give the
initial feel of a social commentary. The people of a small dull town called Oran live busy and
preoccupied about money, no time for pleasure or fun, just work and routine. The narrator even speaks of how that mindset extends to most modern cities. In
contrast to those other cities, he describes that his
town is different because of the “discomfort one may experience there in dying”. They are
described, by our anonymous, “unbiased” narrator, to be so detached that they
care nothing about their neighbors and family.
This description, though, does not
fit that of what is demonstrated by Dr. Rieux, in the first pages of the The
Plague. Maybe it is due to the nature of his profession, but he even helps out
his poor patients for no pay, he cares for those around him. When dead rats
start to emerge throughout Oran,
he seems to brush it off as nothing, but as the number of rat casualties start
to increase and more people start to go to him with theories and concerns, he grows more curious. For some reason, the first few pages hook the reader
in a way that makes going through descriptions of rats dying by the hundreds bearable
and intriguing.
Jean
Tarrou’s account of the events leading up to the concierge’s strange death were
made possible by his documentation in a small journal that he kept while in
this “intrinsically ugly town”. He first wrote about the
mass deaths of rats when watching an old man call for his unresponsive cats. He wrote that maybe the death of so many rats would send them on a
hunting rampage, but then remembered that his own cats turn their head to dead
things. Jean knew a disaster was about to occur, yet he remained in the town, this
along with his reaction to the news of a fever going around, caused some
workers to wrongly describe him as a fatalist.
The
contrast between his view and Mr. Rieux’s gives the reader a feel of what was
happening in the town from two very different men of different backgrounds.
Thoughts on the unconcerned doctor
This
story wastes no time getting to the foreshadowing; in the first few lines a
dead rat is introduced – creating an eerie tone that will be held throughout
the upcoming pages. The main character, a doctor named Bernardo Rieux, makes
house calls, and in this way of traveling around he learns of the dead rats.
When he first comes across one on his doorstep he thinks nothing about it,
although he lives on the second floor. I just found it kind of astonishing
that, being a doctor, when he encountered a second rat wobbling towards him,
who then collapses spewing blood, he doesn’t give it any thought. As a reader
with no medical background, the ailment that was traveling like wildfire
through the rat population immediately roused my interest and led me to think
about a possible human infestation. I found it unusual that the doctor was not
more inquisitive into the cause of the rat “plague” and its possible impact on
humans. Even with something as unnatural as the rats coming out of their holes
to die, the doctor only comments on how it “get[s] on one’s nerves” (13). In
fact, every person with whom the doctor speaks seems to be more concerned with
the appalling death toll of the rats than the doctor. All of the clients he
visits in some way or anther make a comment in regards to the unusualness of
the situation, and he appears neither curious nor suspicious. Finally, after
seven pages (about 4 days) detailing the high death rate and the distress it is
causing, does he show some concern and tell the Municipal Office to look into
it.
Opinions On the Beginning
I thought the story started off unusually. The
narrator talks about how boring and lacking in character the town of Oran is –
the town where the story will take place. The town basically never changes and
is always hot and ugly with only bearable weather coming in winter. This town
is run on the basic principal of survival of the fittest, however, with a
modern capitalistic twist. In the town everyone’s sole concern is making money,
“as much as possible” (4). The town is so driven by this material incentive
that it is no place for the sick; they will be overlooked, “while the whole
population, sitting in cafes or hanging on the telephone, is discussing
shipments, bills of landing, discounts!” (5). While he doesn’t give us a
specific setting, the narrator tells us that the story takes place during the
1940’s. The narrator then amends his seemingly harsh criticism of the town and
its citizens’ moral by saying that once one develops habits, existence in the
town becomes manageable – in fact the town becomes a place one can trust. He
creates the image that although life here is mundane and boring, it’s safe;
while it is “treeless, glamour-less, soulless, the town of Oran ends by seeming
restful and, after a while, you can go complacently to sleep here” (6). This description
of the boring yet safe life that the citizens of Oran lead serves as a
background for the mayhem the author foreshadows will come.
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