A feeling of desperation and anguish rushes over with the sudden evolution from rat death to man death. Humans are important. These deaths were brushed aside, as if not that important, and it is that belittling of the problem that leads to the ultimate, horrific fate that plagues the town. All suggestions by Dr. Rieux, of quarantining the first victims of the strange bumps, are brushed off as exaggerated nonsense, when in fact they would have contained the disease from spreading. This reaction to what was happening reflects the town’s, as a whole, lack of knowledge, and lack of desire to know what was happening. Nothing is worse than a collectively ignorant group of people. Effectively, when analyzing the deaths, they realize that more people had died than what they thought, and Dr. Rieux said it was the plague. The narrator then, even though he said he would be unbiased, decided to input his belief on plagues hidden under the façade of factual information. He compared war to plague, and speculated on how stupidity had its ways of remaining prevalent, which he supported well and to anyone might look like if it is factual. He also critiques human’s belittling of any situation and their lack of foresight. The narrator later specifically singles out Dr.Rieux as one of the more able people, and he still says how little he actually knows about what is to come, and how he only feels “unease” whilst facing this catastrophe.
In this section of the novel a new unique character is introduced: Jean Tarrou. He records that he is “paradoxically satisfy[ied] at the discovery of a town so intrinsically ugly” – a testament to his ironic sense of humor. He is an interesting character who “in those chaotic times […] set himself recording the history of what the normal historian passes over” (24) – he records the insignificancies in a time of turmoil. I found this character quite humorous for his sharp observational skills (especially given the situation of the town he is in) pick up on details most people would have missed. For example, he is fascinated with a family who eats at the hotel; describing the father in detail, then summarizing him to look like “a well-brought-up owl”, the mother like a “black mouse” and the children like “two poodles” (28). He is “quite fascinated by the commercial character of the town”(26), and he warmly approves of this “idiosyncrasy” (26); his opinion of the town is paradoxical and ironically positive, for he approves of a character that the narrator previously implied to be a fault of the town. I believe that this character is introduced for the purpose – aside from allowing the narrator to site his extensive observations relating to the doctor or the disease- of comic relief. His detailed commentaries and opinions on the insignificancies of the town serve as humorous breaks from the tragedy and suffering of the townspeople.
M. Michel is Dr. Rieux's first patient to develop a mysterious disease (which at least to me seemed pretty obvious was the bubonic plague because of the black patches) that quickly dispatches its victims, but in this section of the novel more and more cases of the plague begin to appear. Strangely though Dr. Rieux is unable or maybe even unwilling to accept it as the Bubonic plague. He begins to discover that many other doctors have also had patients with the same symptoms but yet again does not come to the obvious conclusion. Dr. Rieux eventually is almost forced to accept the fact that the plague has appeared in Oran, by a colleague named Castel. I find it strange that though we are informed that Dr. Rieux has much previous knowledge the Plague it takes him such a long time to finally recognize it is there. Personally, I speculate that it isn’t so much a matter of not recognizing the plague, but more so a fear of admitting that it has come because of all the possible consequences both physical to the infected and psychological to those who fear infection. Dr. Rieux knows that millions have already died of this disease and if it is in Oran many more will die because the people of the town are unprepared for such an epidemic. His Dilemma is a great one, now that he can on longer deny the plague what can he do to minimize its effects.
In this section of the novel the story of these two side characters, Jean Tarrou and Cottard, are further developed but yet not totally clear. First, Jean Tarrou's diary entries are described by the narrator. Jean is a vacationer in the city of Oran. He observes the city with a distance eye, noticing the common day to day things of the city that most other people just ignore. As he observes he also comments, raising philosophical questions such as how to not waste time. He proposes to not waste time one has to be aware of time and to that one much engage in boring and complicated routines. In essence this seems contradictory because the acts in which he suggests people to engage, in order not to waste time, seem to be a waste of time themselves. Thus, Jeau Tarrou's part in this story seems still unclear to me, but maybe his entries will have a more clear purpose later in the story. The second character is Cottard, who attempted to kill himself and was saved by his neighbor Joseph Grand. His attempted suicide brings up some questions. First, why did he do it? Second, why is he so scared when the police comes to question him? Lastly, what is his "secret grief"? Though in this section these questions remain unanswered they definitely have peaked my curiosity. Who knows what Cottard will become as we read on.
A feeling of desperation and anguish rushes over with the sudden evolution from rat death to man death. Humans are important. These deaths were brushed aside, as if not that important, and it is that belittling of the problem that leads to the ultimate, horrific fate that plagues the town. All suggestions by Dr. Rieux, of quarantining the first victims of the strange bumps, are brushed off as exaggerated nonsense, when in fact they would have contained the disease from spreading. This reaction to what was happening reflects the town’s, as a whole, lack of knowledge, and lack of desire to know what was happening. Nothing is worse than a collectively ignorant group of people. Effectively, when analyzing the deaths, they realize that more people had died than what they thought, and Dr. Rieux said it was the plague. The narrator then, even though he said he would be unbiased, decided to input his belief on plagues hidden under the façade of factual information. He compared war to plague, and speculated on how stupidity had its ways of remaining prevalent, which he supported well and to anyone might look like if it is factual. He also critiques human’s belittling of any situation and their lack of foresight. The narrator later specifically singles out Dr.Rieux as one of the more able people, and he still says how little he actually knows about what is to come, and how he only feels “unease” whilst facing this catastrophe.
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ReplyDeleteComic Relief
ReplyDeleteIn this section of the novel a new unique character is introduced: Jean Tarrou. He records that he is “paradoxically satisfy[ied] at the discovery of a town so intrinsically ugly” – a testament to his ironic sense of humor. He is an interesting character who “in those chaotic times […] set himself recording the history of what the normal historian passes over” (24) – he records the insignificancies in a time of turmoil. I found this character quite humorous for his sharp observational skills (especially given the situation of the town he is in) pick up on details most people would have missed. For example, he is fascinated with a family who eats at the hotel; describing the father in detail, then summarizing him to look like “a well-brought-up owl”, the mother like a “black mouse” and the children like “two poodles” (28). He is “quite fascinated by the commercial character of the town”(26), and he warmly approves of this “idiosyncrasy” (26); his opinion of the town is paradoxical and ironically positive, for he approves of a character that the narrator previously implied to be a fault of the town. I believe that this character is introduced for the purpose – aside from allowing the narrator to site his extensive observations relating to the doctor or the disease- of comic relief. His detailed commentaries and opinions on the insignificancies of the town serve as humorous breaks from the tragedy and suffering of the townspeople.
What to do?
ReplyDeleteM. Michel is Dr. Rieux's first patient to develop a mysterious disease (which at least to me seemed pretty obvious was the bubonic plague because of the black patches) that quickly dispatches its victims, but in this section of the novel more and more cases of the plague begin to appear. Strangely though Dr. Rieux is unable or maybe even unwilling to accept it as the Bubonic plague. He begins to discover that many other doctors have also had patients with the same symptoms but yet again does not come to the obvious conclusion. Dr. Rieux eventually is almost forced to accept the fact that the plague has appeared in Oran, by a colleague named Castel. I find it strange that though we are informed that Dr. Rieux has much previous knowledge the Plague it takes him such a long time to finally recognize it is there. Personally, I speculate that it isn’t so much a matter of not recognizing the plague, but more so a fear of admitting that it has come because of all the possible consequences both physical to the infected and psychological to those who fear infection. Dr. Rieux knows that millions have already died of this disease and if it is in Oran many more will die because the people of the town are unprepared for such an epidemic. His Dilemma is a great one, now that he can on longer deny the plague what can he do to minimize its effects.
Jean Tarrou and Cottard
ReplyDeleteIn this section of the novel the story of these two side characters, Jean Tarrou and Cottard, are further developed but yet not totally clear. First, Jean Tarrou's diary entries are described by the narrator. Jean is a vacationer in the city of Oran. He observes the city with a distance eye, noticing the common day to day things of the city that most other people just ignore. As he observes he also comments, raising philosophical questions such as how to not waste time. He proposes to not waste time one has to be aware of time and to that one much engage in boring and complicated routines. In essence this seems contradictory because the acts in which he suggests people to engage, in order not to waste time, seem to be a waste of time themselves. Thus, Jeau Tarrou's part in this story seems still unclear to me, but maybe his entries will have a more clear purpose later in the story. The second character is Cottard, who attempted to kill himself and was saved by his neighbor Joseph Grand. His attempted suicide brings up some questions. First, why did he do it? Second, why is he so scared when the police comes to question him? Lastly, what is his "secret grief"? Though in this section these questions remain unanswered they definitely have peaked my curiosity. Who knows what Cottard will become as we read on.