Albert Camus’s novel, The Plague, tells the story of a plague
that broke out in the city of Oran and how different people responded to
it. Dr Bernard Rieux takes positive
action. He does not believe in god or
religion but believes in a personal as well as a social code of ethics. He devotes his entire time to fighting the
plague.
Father Paneloux, a
Catholic priest, thinks that the plague is a punishment from God for the people’s
sins. However, when a young boy dies and
Dr Rieux questions Paneloux about it, the priest is faced with a test of his
faith. He cannot discover a satisfactory
answer to the radical question about the validity of his faith. He dies clutching a cross. Dr Rieux knows that he did not die of
plague. He died probably out of the
painful realisation that his God was not as meaningful to him as he believed so
far.
Jean Tarrou, the
chronicler of the plague, knows that human existence, suffering and death have
no rational or moral meaning. For him,
life is a struggle whose meaning is created by each individual. Meaning is a personal choice.
“But what does it mean,
the plague? It’s life, that’s all.” The
novel says. Life is a constant
struggle. The plague is just a metaphor
for that struggle. Enduring that
struggle using all the skills and strategies you possess is the only meaningful
thing about life.
“The evil in the world comes almost always from ignorance,
and goodwill can cause as much damage as ill-will if it is not enlightened.
People are more often good than bad, though in fact that is not the question.
But they are more or less ignorant and this is what one calls vice or virtue,
the most appalling vice being the ignorance that thinks it knows everything and
which consequently authorizes itself to kill. The murderer's soul is blind, and
there is no true goodness or fine love without the greatest possible degree of
clear-sightedness.”
When questioned what
prompted him to fight the plague and help the people risking his own life, Dr
Rieux says, “I don’t know. My… my code
of morals, perhaps.” “Your code of
morals. What code, if I may ask?” He is
questioned and his answer is just one word: “Comprehension.”
When choices are made out
of comprehension, we lead happy, positive, meaningful lives. Yes, the secret of positively happy living is
comprehension: an insightful and intelligent understanding of life. Not that the comprehension will make life
entirely blissful. It will help us cope
with the negativity around, with the inevitable evils that accompany life
without fail.
PS. Written for
IndiSpire Edition 203: Ways to create positivity and happiness around ourselves In negative
situations of life #selflove
Happiness is in struggle, not overcoming struggles but facing struggles. It is accepting that such is life and there is no escaping to it. It is accepting the meaninglessness and yet reasoning some meaning to it.
ReplyDeleteThis post is a refresher to one of my all time favorite novels. Thanks for bringing it up.
Camus is a perennial inspiration.
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