The Plague by Albert Camus
The main character, Dr. Bernard Rieux, is the surgeon and narrator of The Plague. In the beginning of the story he finds a dead rat on the floor. Eventually the dead rats began to pile into large masses and were burned. Soon after there were some people that got very sick, which made Dr. Rieux very curious. Since he was a doctor, he was the first to actually attempt to help one of these sick people. Madame Rieux was the mother of Dr. Rieux. She comes to visit her son during the beginning of the plague. Madame Rieux (same as the mother) was Dr. Rieux's wife, who died in a sanitarium outside Oran. Jean Tarrou is the best friend of Rieux. His notebooks are used as part of the chronicle. M. Michel was a concierge and the first person to die of the plague. After his death, many cases of this illness were reported widespread. Father Paneloux was a priest in Oran. Raymond Rambert was a Paris journalist that became trapped in Oran when the plague became widespread. Cottard was a criminal who hides from arrest in Oran, contracted the disease and one of the last few who died from the plague. He looses his sanity at the end of the book and tries to kill a lot of people. Joseph Grand was a petty official and also a writer. J
eanne Grand was the divorced wife of Joseph. M. Othon is Oran's police magistrate. Dr. Richard is a colleague of Dr. Rieux. Dr. Castel an elderly doctor who perfects a new plague serum. Prefect is the chief magistrate of Oran. The old Spaniard is an asthmatic philosopher. Gonzales, Garcia, Raoul, Marcel, and Louis are Rambert's underground contacts. The novel begins in the 1940's at Oran, in a city on the northern Algerian coast, where the plague becomes known. The city was ugly and had a smug, placid air. To conjure up a picture of this town, imagine a town without pigeons, without any trees or gardens, where you never hear the thrashing of wings or the crunch of leaves. The town of Oran is a very negative place. The seasons are distinguished only in the sky. All that tells you of spring's coming is the feel of the air, or the baskets of flowers brought in from the suburbs by peddlers. During the summer the sun bakes the houses bone-dry, powders the walls with grayish dust, and you have no option but to survive those days of intense heat indoors. In autumn, there are inundations of mud. Only winter brings really pleasant weather. Love is considered repulsive in Oran. Also, it is impossible to see the sea, which symbolizes life in this book. Death and sickness are the relevant plots throughout this book. Dr
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 897
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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