Tarrou was a person who had felt that kind of love at a very young age when he went to a court to see his father, an attorney, in action. He recalls: 'the only picture I carried away with me of that day's proceedings was a picture of the criminal. I have little doubt he was guilty -- of what crime is no great matter. That little man of about thirty, with sparse, sandy hair, seemed so eager to confess everything, so genuinely horrified at what he'd done and what was going to be done with him... I needn't go on, need I? You've understood -- he was a living human being" (Camus, 224).
That was important for him. It was important to see himself and others as human beings even if they had been accused of a crime. For as long as a person knew he was guilty and was willing to do something about it, he deserves compassion. Keeping this in view, Tarrou tells us what the author would love to be the message his readers to get from this book, if it is the only one they can remember: "All I maintain is that there are on this earth pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences" (Camus 229).
The Plague thus served as an opportunity to unite a nation in the common bond of humanity. Camus understood where apathy came from. It originates when the focus shifts from the society...
But in order to shift it back to the society, a major calamity is sometimes the only solution and that is what the Plague offers. It offers a solution to apathy by awakening people to the horrifying reality of the disease. As victims increased everyday, people realized it was no longer a matter of one family. It was instead a huge epidemic that was about to engulf each and very family alike. It was then through collective action alone that people could come together and do something about a problem that had affected everyone.
Works Cited
Bree, Germaine. Albert Camus. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.
Bree, Germaine. Camus. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1959.
Camus, Albert. The Plague. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Alfred a. Knopf, 1971.
Doubrovsky, Serge. "The Ethics of Camus." Trans. Sandra Mueller and Jean-Marc Vary. Preuves. 116. 39-49.
Ellison, David R. Understanding Albert Camus. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1990.
Maquet, Albert. Albert Camus: The Invisible Summer. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1958.
Picon, Ga tan. "Notes on the Plague." Trans. Ellen Conroy Kennedy. L'Usage de la lechire. Paris: Mercure de France. 1960. 79-87.
Sprintzen, David. Camus: A Critical…
