In this chapter, author, Albert Camus more greatly focuses
on the method of burial. Due to
the high number of deaths, the dead in the town of Oran are stripped of their
right to a proper burial. All the victims are now thrown into mass graves; and
when there is no longer space in the cemetery, they are cremated. This process
of burial leaves the victims and their families with no proper method of
identification.
This
burial although seemingly insignificant identifies all the individuals in the
town of Oran as one. The burial
creates a unity between all the individuals in Oran. Before, even the dead, depending on their social class
received different burials: some a big plaque and larger area where their
tombstone lays. Now, however, it is all the same. All individuals are receiving
the same treatment and because of the new burial system, all individuals are
looking at themselves as the same person.
The
burial is symbolic because it is the one element that is uniting the people of
Oran. Because of this, the community begins to see themselves as a “true
community” united through an important experience. Though, this chapter is the
beginning of the unification of the town people of Oran, I believe that it is
setting the stepping-stones for an ultimate change in setting. As of now, I am
convinced that many things are going to change. Possibly, foreshadowing the
conclusion of this horrid disease.
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