Euridice (1762). On the Friday evening that Rieux and Tarrou happen to go to the opera house together, the singer playing Orfeo dies suddenly, on stage, of the plague.

Absurdism

The term absurdism refers to literary works, particularly plays and novels, that convey the notion that the human condition lacks inherent value or meaning. Absurdist writers reject conventional beliefs and values, including religious or metaphysical systems that ascribe truth, purpose, and meaning to transcendental concepts like God. For the absurdist, the universe is irrational and incomprehensible; it cannot fulfill the human desire for order or meet human hopes and aspirations. Human beings are fundamentally isolated in an indifferent universe and must navigate their bleak, insignificant existence as best as they can. As Eugene Ionesco, a notable French playwright of absurd drama (quoted by M. H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms), stated: “Cut off from his religious, metaphysical, and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd, useless.”

According to Abrams, absurdism traces its origins to the 1920s, with works such as Franz Kafka’s The Trial and The Metamorphosis. However, it is most closely associated with French literature that emerged after World War II, particularly in the writings of authors like Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Camus’s The Stranger (1942) was among the first works to apply an absurdist perspective to fiction. Samuel Beckett, an Irishman who resided in Paris and frequently wrote in French before translating his works into English, is often regarded as the most influential writer of absurdist literature. His most renowned play is Waiting for Godot (1955).

France in World War II

After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, Marshal Pétain, an eighty-four-year-old World War I hero, was appointed prime minister. The northern half of France, including the Channel and Atlantic ports, fell under German occupation. French forces were demobilized and disarmed, and France was compelled to bear all occupation costs. The Pétain government established its headquarters at Vichy, in unoccupied France, where it was granted nominal independence. General Charles de Gaulle, who had served as Undersecretary for War in the fallen French government, fled to England, where he organized a French Volunteer Force to collaborate with the British and continue the fight.

The Pétain government actively collaborated with the Germans, hoping to secure a place for France in what it presumed would be a German-dominated Europe for the foreseeable future. Under the leadership of Pierre Laval, the Vichy government suppressed the French underground movement, which increasingly harassed the Germans by attacking their supply lines. In 1942, the Germans extended their occupation to include all of France, after which the Vichy government lost much of its independent power and prestige.

Life in France was extremely challenging for its citizens during the occupation. Communicating with family members across the demarcation zone was difficult. The Germans only allowed postcards with minimal information to be sent, similar to how, in The Plague, townspeople could only use telegrams to reach the outside world. Numerous restrictions were imposed, including curfews and food shortages. People often stood in long lines for insufficient supplies. Additionally, a thriving black market emerged, involving all levels of French society. As Milton Dank notes in The French Against the French, “The large-scale black market was carefully organized by operators who made fantastic fortunes practically overnight at the expense of their starving compatriots.”

After the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the end of the war seemed imminent. The French Resistance played a crucial role in the ensuing battles, sabotaging bridges and railways as the Germans retreated. When Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944, Camus, who was the editor of the underground newspaper Combat, penned the following:

Paris fired off all its bullets into the August night. In the immense stage set of stone and water, the barricades of freedom have once again been raised everywhere around that river whose waves are heavy with history. Once more, justice must be bought with men’s blood.

Point of View

Point of view pertains to the narrative perspective, the character through whose eyes the story unfolds. In The Plague, this character is Rieux. However, Rieux does not serve as a traditional first-person narrator. Instead, he conceals his identity by referring to himself in the third person, only disclosing his true identity at the novel's conclusion. Thus, the story seems to be narrated by an unnamed observer who collects information from his own experiences of the epidemic and the diary of another character, Tarrou, who records his observations of the events.

Rieux's choice to remain unidentified until the end is driven by his desire to provide an objective account of the events in Oran. He intentionally adopts the stance of an impartial observer. Rieux resembles a witness who maintains composure when testifying about a crime; he recounts what the characters said and did without delving into their inner thoughts and feelings. However, he does offer generalized insights into the changing mood of the town as a whole. Rieux refers to his narrative as a chronicle and views himself as a historian, justifying his decision to adhere strictly to the facts and avoid personal bias. This approach also explains why the style of The Plague often conveys a sense of distance and detachment. The reader is seldom directly engaged with the characters' emotions or the dramatic events.

Allegory

An allegory is a story with two distinct levels of meaning: the literal level and a deeper, symbolic level that represents a related set of concepts and events. The Plague serves, in part, as a historical allegory, where the plague symbolizes the German occupation of France from 1940 to 1944 during World War II.

Several elements of the narrative make this allegory evident. The town of Oran, struck by the plague and isolated from the outside world, represents France. The citizens' slow realization of the danger mirrors the French populace's initial disbelief in the threat of war. Just as the French could not fathom that the Germans, whom they had defeated only twenty years earlier, could conquer them in a mere six weeks, as happened in June 1940, the townspeople are initially complacent about the plague.

The characters' varied responses reflect the different attitudes within the French population during the occupation. Some, like Paneloux, believed that France was responsible for its misfortune and thought that the only solution was to submit to what they saw as the inevitable long-term dominance of Germany in Europe. However, many individuals joined the French Resistance, and they are symbolized by the voluntary sanitary teams in the novel, such as Tarrou, Rambert, and Grand, who actively oppose the overwhelming evil (the Nazi occupiers).

Some French citizens collaborated with the Germans during the occupation. In the novel, this is exemplified by the character Cottard, who welcomes the plague and exploits the resulting economic hardship to amass a fortune through black market trading.

Other elements of the novel can be interpreted allegorically. The plague, which claims lives unexpectedly, mirrors the reality of the occupation, where people could be abruptly taken from their homes by the Gestapo, imprisoned, sent to work as slave labor in German-controlled areas, or simply killed. Daily life in the plague-ridden city parallels life in wartime France: cinemas showing reruns, hoarding of scarce goods, nighttime curfews, and isolation camps, which are reminiscent of German internment camps. The scenes at the novel's conclusion, when Oran’s gates are reopened, evoke the jubilant scenes in Paris during its liberation in 1944.

In some passages, Camus makes the allegory clear. For instance, he describes the plague using terms that apply to an enemy in war: “the epidemic was in retreat all along the line; . . . victory was won and the enemy was abandoning his positions.”

Symbolism

The imagery of the sea frequently appears in Camus’s works to symbolize life, vitality, and freedom. In The Plague, an important description of Oran appears early on, explaining that the town is constructed in such a way that it “turns its back on the bay, with the result that it’s impossible to see the sea, you always have to go to look for it.” Symbolically, Oran turns its back on life. When the plague strikes, the absence of this symbol of freedom becomes more pronounced as the beaches and the port are closed. During summer, the residents lose contact with the sea entirely: “for all its nearness, the sea was out of bounds; young limbs had no longer the run of its delights.”

A pivotal moment occurs near the end of part IV, when Tarrou and Rieux sit on a terrace, gazing far into the horizon. As Tarrou looks towards the sea, he expresses a sense of relief, saying that it is good to be there. To solidify their friendship, the two men go for a swim together. This interaction with the ocean is portrayed as a moment of renewal, harmony, and peace. It stands out as one of the few lyrical episodes in the novel: “[T]hey saw the sea spread out before them, a gently heaving expanse of deep-piled velvet, supple and sleek as a creature of the wild.”

Moments before Rieux dives into the water, he experiences a “strange happiness,” a sensation that Tarrou also feels. The scene is serene, with Rieux floating still on his back, staring up at the stars and the moon. When Tarrou joins him, they swim together side by side, “with the same zest, the same rhythm, isolated from the world, at last free of the town and of the plague.”

The Plague is crafted as a journal, a dry and monotonous chronicle designed to convey the suffocating atmosphere of the epidemic. The author remains anonymous until the conclusion, evoking the traditional nineteenth-century "omniscient narrator." Unlike The Stranger, which hinges on sensations, this narrative depends on documentation and eyewitness accounts. The use of free indirect speech diminishes the emotional authenticity of the story. Except for Tarrou's journal—arguably the finest writing in the book—the narration maintains a sense of detachment.

In a style somewhat reminiscent of Flaubert, Camus excels at subtle irony. To most, the plague's primary impact is its devastation of the tourist industry. Despite hundreds of early deaths, authorities refuse to act until the illness is officially named. The press offers no assistance, possibly reflecting Camus's frustration with the ineffectiveness of his articles for Combat. Beneath this monotonous and ironic world lies an image of profound sensuality and sensitivity. The climate is consistently extreme, with either scorching sun or torrential rain. As in all of Camus's Mediterranean works, the sea and the sun are ever-present, as are women. Quilliot and McCarthy have observed that while there are almost no young women in the novel, the presence of women symbolizes the need for love and human connection.

1940s: World War II sees major European nations clashing, with Germany and Italy, and later Japan, forming the Axis powers, while Britain, Russia, and eventually the U.S. align as the Allied powers. The U.S. joining the war in 1941 shifts the balance in favor of Britain and its allies.

Today: The primary European participants of World War II are progressively moving towards deeper economic and political integration through the European Union. In January 2002, twelve European nations, including France and Germany, adopt a unified currency, the Euro.

1940s: People primarily receive their news through radio and newspapers. Communication occurs via telephone, letters, and in urgent situations, telegrams.

Today: Television has overtaken newspapers as the main source of information for most individuals. The Internet is rapidly becoming a key resource for news and entertainment. Affordable telephone rates and electronic mail make global communication simple, and fax machines are common. Telegrams are now obsolete.

1940s: Following the widespread destruction of World War II, Europe begins to rebuild. The United States, concerned that a weakened Europe might enable the spread of communism, offers substantial financial aid through the Marshall Plan.

Today: A more unified Europe has emerged as a significant economic rival to the United States.

Camus's depiction of the plague draws from both classical and contemporary sources. These include Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian Wars (c. 431-400 B.C.), Sophocles' Oedipus the King (c. 429 B.C.), the book of Exodus in the Bible, Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year (1722), and Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851).

Germaine Bree identifies a more direct influence in Antonin Artaud's Le Theatre et son double, where the plague is used as a tangible representation of spiritual malaise. The theme of innocent children suffering echoes Dostoevsky's character, Ivan Karamazov. Additionally, there are resonances of Flaubert, Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Balzac throughout the work.

Sources

Abrams, M. H., A Glossary of Literary Terms, 4th ed., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981, p. 1.

Camus, Albert, The Plague, translated by Stuart Gilbert, Alfred A. Knopf, 1971.

—, “Reflections on the Guillotine,” in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, Alfred A. Knopf, 1961, pp. 173–234.

Dank, Milton, The French against the French: Collaboration and Resistance, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1974.

Ellison, David R., Understanding Albert Camus, University of South Carolina Press, 1990.

Kellman, Steven G., ed., Approaches to Teaching Camus’s The Plague, Modern Language Association of America, 1985.

Further Reading

Amoia, Alba, Albert Camus, Continuum, 1989.
Amoia’s book provides a clear introduction to Camus’s works. She interprets The Plague as a portrayal of humanity’s struggle against isolation and mortality, highlighting Rieux’s respect for individual human personalities—a trait she finds consistently in Camus’s life and writings.

Bloom, Harold, ed., Albert Camus, Modern Critical Views series, Chelsea House, 1988.
This volume compiles essays on various aspects of Camus’s work, featuring Bloom’s critical perspective on The Plague and an essay on the same novel by Patrick McCarthy.

Brée, Germaine, Camus: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall, 1962.
Published shortly after Camus’s death, this collection showcases contemporary critics’ interpretations of his work. In “Notes on The Plague,” Gaëton Picon critiques the novel for not achieving unity between its realistic and allegorical layers.

Luppé, Robert de, Albert Camus, translated by John Cumming and J. Hargreaves, Funk & Wagnalls, 1966.
Luppé explores the evolution of Camus’s ideas, identifying themes of dualism (life and death, love and hatred) and the effort to balance opposing and exclusive concepts.

Merton, Thomas, Albert Camus’s The Plague: Introduction and Commentary, Seabury Press, 1968.
This concise introduction to the novel is authored by a prominent religious thinker and former Roman Catholic monk. Merton offers a clear analysis of Camus’s stance on Christianity and compares Camus’s philosophy with that of modern Catholic thinker Teilhard de Chardin.

Todd, Olivier, Albert Camus: A Life, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
This extensive biography details Camus’s life and era but does not delve deeply into his literary works.