Narrative & Plot in The Plague

The plot of The Plague is fashioned as an episodic narrative recounting the progress of an epidemic as it develops, holds captive and, finally, departs from the fictional North African city of Oran in French Algeria circa 1936 or 1946. Although the novel was written and copyrighted in 1946-47, Camus is deliberately vague about the time frame: the colonial city he describes could be a pre-World War II locale or post-War. There is no mention of the War at all, which would seem strange coming from an author who was himself born in Algeria, was a journalist there, then went on to become a leader in the French Resistance in Paris, writing their underground newspaper. But the important issue of Camus' novel

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to hundreds weekly, then hundreds daily. A third of the way into the story a new character enters: Father Paneloux, a prist who has spent the majority of his life in academia. Father Paneloux offers the citizens of Oran an extreme, yet traditional sermon as comfort - that the plague is God's way of trying men's souls. All men are deserving of punishment, Father Paneloux asserts, yet God's mercy spares most until the hour of judgement after their death. "My brothers, a time of testing has come for us all. We must believe everything or deny everything. And who among you, I ask, would dare to deny everything?" (224) This plague is to remind those who have forgotten God that His mercy is necessary. For the middle third of the narrative, The Plague alternates among several characters, all held together by a connection with Dr. Rieux and his futile efforts to treat victims of the plague. Tarrou, the visiting man of independent means, offers to set up and lead voluntary "sanitation squads," a dangerous enterprise where men will clean up after those infected with the virus. Tarrou reveals himself as a disillusioned humanist. His father had been a well-meaning public prosecutor, but Tarrou had come to feel for the accused
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Rieux, Father Paneloux, Dr Rieux's, Paneloux Camus-through-Rieux, Nature Chaos, France Resistance, Plague Oran, War Occupation, Albert Camus, North African, dr rieux, father paneloux, sanitation squads, bland clerk, albert camus' plague, camus' novel, plague begins, middle third, citizens oran, clerk grand, contracts disease, bland clerk grand,
Approximate Word count = 2622
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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