The Black Death In Albert Camus The Plague

The plague is a terrifying disease that has thankfully been essentially eradicated in modern history, but those living before the 21st century had to live with the risk of dying from an onset of the plague. Plagues like the Black Death have had strong impacts on humanity, and this has influenced literature. Albert Camus’ The Plague is an example of the plague influencing literature. In the novel The Plague, the Oran plague is similar to the Black Death because of the unsavory physiological effects, the soaring death tolls, and the societal effects. Both the Oran plague and the Black Death had sickening physiological effects and symptoms such as massive swelling and fever. One major symptom was the engorged and swollen lymph nodes or ganglia.

The rapid spread of the disease contributed to the high death toll because it could spread to many people while simultaneously killing them quickly. In the novel, they are not for sure what type of plague it is. Various doctors are discussing what to do about it, and Dr. Rieux inputs his opinion, saying,“‘When a microbe,’ Rieux said, ‘after a short intermission can quadruple in three days’ time the volume of the spleen, can swell the mesenteric ganglia to the size of an orange [...] it may well [...] kill off half the town before two months are out’” (Camus, 1991, 49). It is incredibly serious when a plague has the potential to kill most of a town in two months. This just emphasizes the rapidity of infection. During the Black Death, the plague spread over from China throughout Asia and Europe in mere years, traveling thousands of miles. Once infected with the plague, most people died within a week. (History.com, 2010) Both plagues lacked a cure, which also increased the death toll by making infection easier. Sometime in the middle of the plague, an anti-plague serum was developed. They tested it on a child, with unsavory results, as Dr. Rieux notes, “Rieux had no qualms about testing Castel’s serum on the boy [...] they gathered round the bed to observe the effects of this test [...] they never had to witness over so long a period the death-throes of an innocent

The plague caused both societies to undergo positive changes such as a decrease in crime caused by the joining together of the people of the town. In the novel, a main character named Tarrou keeps a journal. One day, in it he notes, “The plague has put an effective stop to police inquiries, sleuthings, warrants of arrest, and so forth. Come to that, we have no police nowadays; no crimes [...] no more criminals” (Camus, 1991,196). The decrease in crime was positive. The only crime at the time was looting of empty houses. A sharp population decrease meant less people to commit crime in both societies. There were also negative changes, such as people learning what death can look like. Living in the time of the plague was mentally scarring. Doctors witnessed deaths daily. The novel states, “A gust of sobs swept through the room [...] shut his [Rieux’s] eyes, dazed with exhaustion and disgust [...] ‘I must go,’ Rieux said. ‘I can’t bear to hear them any longer’(Camus, 1991, 217). In Oran, they had to make makeshift hospitals out of various buildings. Each building was filled with hundreds of dying people moaning in pain. Hearing that constantly haunted the survivors for many years. During the Black Plague, many families would have to witness entire villages dying around them, leaving them to wonder when it is their time to go. Positive and negative changes equally affected both societies and the