Skip to main content

The Plague



When the world today is struggling with the pandemic of Covid-19, Albert Camus’s novel The Plague can offer some stimulating lessons. When a plague breaks out in the city of Oran, initially the political authorities fail to deal with it as a serious problem. The ordinary people also don’t view it as an epidemic that requires public action rather than as individual annoyances. The people of Oran are obsessed with their personal sufferings and inconveniences. Finally the authorities are forced to put Oran in quarantine. Father Paneloux, a Jesuit priest, delivers a sermon declaring the epidemic as God’s punishment for Oran’s sins.

Months of suffering make people rise above their selfish notions and obsessions and join anti-plague efforts being carried out by people like Dr Rieux. Dr Rieux is an atheist but committed to service of humanity. He questions Father Paneloux’s religious views when a small boy is killed by the epidemic. The priest delivers another sermon on the necessity of accepting all or nothing: if you believe in God you either accept all that comes as coming from God or you don’t believe in God at all.

It is the same with any other belief too. That is what Camus tries to show in the novel. Dr Rieux is an atheist. But he puts his trust in what Camus calls intellectual honesty elsewhere. Life is absurd. Death is its irrational and ultimate end. Everything is rendered meaningless by death. Except the meaning you create for your life.

Dr Rieux creates a meaning for himself: he believes that each person is responsible not just for himself but for all of mankind. Each one of us is the world’s redeemer. Our actions can make us the saviours of the world. It is not through religious rituals that we become saviours of the world. Sunday’s prayers cannot excuse Saturday’s hates. Man should do the job that he has so far assigned to God. Man should heal mankind by loving, by being compassionate, by being good. Just as you surrender yourself totally to God, you need to surrender yourself totally to this conviction. Once you accept these certainties (compassion, etc), you must sacrifice everything else to them.

Father Paneloux falls ill the day after his second sermon. He soon dies clutching a crucifix. He had told the young priest that “if a priest consults a physician, there is a contradiction.” If you believe that your God is all-powerful, then your God should heal you. Otherwise your faith is feeble, far from absolute. Dr Rieux’s faith in his rational faculty is absolute. The irony here is that the atheist’s faith is better-founded than the priest’s.

Father Paneloux refuses medical assistance. He dies. Dr Rieux doesn’t find symptoms of the plague in the priest. How did he then die? Did the horrendous vacuum between his faith and his life lead to his death? Did he choose a final surrender to his faith? Or did he realise the hollowness of his faith?

Today the world is passing through a critical period because of Covid-19, a pandemic akin to the plague that beset Camus’s Oran. There are thousands of religions and millions of religious leaders and billions of believers in this world. Curiously their silence has become deafening. The world has chosen to put its trust in medical science. We are fortunate to have medical personnel who, like Dr Rieux, believe: “I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when all this ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.”

When the plague is finally eradicated from Oran, Dr Rieux knows that the fight is never really over. The “plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good,” he says. It can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves. The fight against it will be continued “by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers.”

All of us can be healers if we dare, if we wish. That’s real religion. That’s what Camus teaches us.


PS. This is part of a series being written for the #BlogchatterA2Z Challenge. The previous parts are:
14. No Exit

Comments

  1. What an apt time to share Camus' plague. But I feel when it is over, those who believe in their God will still be willing to give it to Him rather than to science. For them, as for the priest, it will be God's way of punishing mankind or they will have a hundred reasons to convince themselves. Because ultimately you only hear what you want to.
    It is also true that a pandemic redeems us only if we are willing to be redeemed. While there are several cases of man rising above his own selfish motives in such times, past epidemics have also shown how distant and self centred man can become. The present scenario is no different. We couldn't have been more indifferent than we are now...Most of us.
    Forgive me for being the cynic but my understanding says that human nature changes little. At least on an average.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm totally with you, Sonia, in this. I have to go out of my way to restrain my own cynicism. One reason why hope struggles to dominate my thinking is that this pandemic has affected the whole world, not just one nation or two. Everywhere, the different religions and different gods have fallen helplessly silent. No culture, no race is safe. So maybe people will begin to see something new. I don't know, but I hope.

      Delete
    2. To all those interested, religion is not the answer, the answer is in the person of Jesus Christ. Sadly, even many who call themselves as "Christians" do not know Him. As space is short I am not going on a long answer. Please visit truthforlife.org or reasons.org or rzim.org to get rational answers. Blessings to all.

      Delete
  2. The trouble with religious faith is it does not lend itself to reason. It is said that religion is the opium of the masses. No matter how many pandemics plague us or how many people we lose to war and poverty man can never be cured of irrational and unfounded religious faith. Because this drug called religion has eaten into our souls and contaminated us so deeply.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely, Jai. So many cataclysms happened in the past and man never learnt. Yet, as I answered Sonia above, I dare to hope. Do we have a choice here? What is life without hope?

      Delete
  3. I respect religion when it helps people believe in love and humanity, and when it gives them strength to face dire times. But from my experience, there have been too many instances that show how it is dangerous. For instance, the religious gatherings during the pandemic wherein they believe that god will protect them since it is for a religious cause. There was a meme being circulated about the scientists hoping that when they finally develop the vaccine, that people don't thank god for it.
    Picking this book up next, anyway. Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too respect religion whenever it does anything good. But more often than not, religions have wreaked havoc. That's why i advocate humanism.

      I'm sure you'll love Camus. I'm going to bring one more book of his in this series: The Rebel.

      Delete
  4. Pandemic or no pandemic, i don't think people changes. Our biases are so deeprooted, we know how to find logic to fit new information to our already held belief systems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a more practical way of assessing people. I'm an incorrigible romantic.

      Delete
  5. This is a book that seems to speak the story of current scenario, and as if it has come alive in today's times. It all sounds so familiar and relatable. The skeptical end is scary. Hope humanity doesn't have to face the fate and fear as depicted here.
    Well put!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The end need not be scary if people learn lessons from calamities. But people don't learn. So the virus will keep returning.

      Delete
    2. True, people have hardly learnt in the past and there are dim chances they will learn now or ever! God and Science protect us!

      Delete
  6. A lot of similarities with the current situation. I hope in the end we come out victorious. Well written post.
    -- rightpurchasing.com

    In addition, we at rightpurchasing are having an open day on Monday along with the "Q" post. We will be open to any of your queries regarding Blog monetization or if you need any suggestions. Hope to see you there.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my God! The Plague seems to be the story of today written way back by the visionary. Or is it that the history always repeats itself and we the mankind have not learnt from it?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't know when will the human race learn from their mistakes and start taking things seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wonderful reference. Loved reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good reference..you are right..we are looking at science for cure..as for religion..i think its the blind adherence to rituals that leads to mayhem..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel religion has outlived its purpose. We live in an era in which algorithms are going to surpass human intelligence and creativity.

      Delete
  11. Apt for the times. History repeats itself, hope we learn a few lessons from the crisis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you think people really learn the required lessons? Most probably, as soon as this is over, the miracle workers will emerge with all sorts of claims and their followers will fall prostrate...

      Delete
  12. The image at the last says it all :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I created it to focus on the message. Glad you took note.

      Delete
  13. The Plague seems like a story of our current time. History truly repeats itself but wonder if we will learn the lessons!?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of readers ask the same question which implies a desire to learn. So maybe we will. I hope.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prelude to AtoZ

  From Garden of 5 Senses, Delhi [file pic] Hindsight gives an unearthly charm and order to the past. There can be pain too. A lot of things could have been different, much better, if only we possessed the wisdom of our old age back in those days. As a writer put it, Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear and a lot of those guys must have thought, “I wish I had known this some time ago.” Life is a series of errors with intermittent achievements. The only usefulness of the errors may be the lessons they teach us. Probably, that is their purpose too. We are created to err so that we learn, I dare to put it that way. I turn 64 in a month’s time. It’s not inappropriate to look back at some of the people whom life brought into my life so that I would learn certain lessons. No, I don’t mean to say that life has any such purpose or design or anything. Life is absurd. People come into your life as haphazardly as vehicles ply on your road or birds poop on your head. Some of these people change the chemist

Why I won’t vote

From Deshabhimani , Malayalam weekly Exactly a month from today is the Parliamentary election in my state of Kerala. This time, I’m not going to vote. Bernard Shaw defined democracy , with his characteristic cynicism, as “ a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve .” We elect our government in a democracy. And the government invariably sucks our blood – whichever the party is. The BJP and the Congress are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee though the former makes all sorts of other claims day in and day out. BJP = Congress + the holy cow. The holy cow has turned out to be quite a vampire and that makes a difference, no doubt. In our Prime Minister’s algebra, it is: (a+b) 2 which should be equal to a 2 and b 2 . There is an extra 2ab which is the holy cow. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm , the animals revolt against the human master and set up their own nationalist republic. Soon politics develops in the republic and some pigs become leaders. The porcine

How Arvind Kejriwal can save himself

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have a clear vision. Eliminate all opposition. Decimate them or absorb them. My previous post [link below] showed a few people decimated by them. Today let’s look at the others: those who are saved by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]. 1. Himanta Biswa Sarma  This guy was in Congress and faced serious charges related to the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. He also faced corruption charges related to drinking water supply in Guwahati. His house was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI]. Then he switched over to BJP and all his crimes just vanished. It’s as simple as taking a dip in the Ganga and all your sins are forgiven. Today he is the chief minister of Assam. Nothing is heard of all the charges that were levelled against him. 2. Amarinder Singh  This former Captain in the Indian Army was a Congressman until Modi’s Enforcement Directorate [ED] started raiding him, his son and his son-in-law. He put an end to all those raid

The Good Old World

Book Review Title: Dukhi Dadiba and irony of fate Author: Dadi Edulji Taraporewala Translators: Aban Mukherji and Tulsi Vatsal Publisher: Ratna Books, Delhi, 2023 Pages: 314 If you want to return to the good old days of the late 19 th century, this is an ideal novel for you. This was published originally in Gujarati in 1913. It appeared as a serial before that from 1898 onwards in a periodical. The conflict between good and evil is the dominant motif though there is romance, betrayal, disappointment, regret, and pretty much of traditional morality. Reading this novel is quite like watching an old Bollywood movie, 1960s style. Ardeshir Bahadurshah, a wealthy Parsi aristocrat in Surat, dies having obligated his son Jehangir to find out his long-lost brother Rustom. Rustom was Bahadurshah’s son in his first marriage. The mother died when the boy was too small and the nurse who looked after the child vanished with it one day. Ratanmai, Bahadurshah’s present wife, takes her

Kejriwal’s Arrest in Modi’s Kurukshetra

For some mysterious reason, Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest reminded me of Haren Pandya. Maybe, because Pandya’s 21 st death anniversary is approaching (26 March). Have you forgotten Haren Pandya? He was the Home Minister of Gujarat before Narendra Modi assumed dictatorial powers in that state. Modi chose to teach humility to Pandya by making him the Minister of State for revenue. Pandya chose not to learn humility from Modi and resigned from that post in Aug 2002. Remember Gujarat of 2002? You should. A fire engulfed a train on 27 Feb 2002 killing 58 Hindu pilgrims who were returning from Ayodhya where they had gone to discover their god, not very unlike Christopher Columbus undertaking a voyage to discover India and messing it all up. What caused the fire in the train? Lord Ram knows probably. The upshot was that there was a riot in Gujarat by Hindus against Muslims. Haren Pandya is one of the BJP leaders who gave statements in many places indicting Modi for the riots. He asser