A common, almost cliche saying denotes that nothing is ever as it seems, this specifically rings true for most literary works. Symbols are used in literature to convey hidden meanings in regular objects. In The Plague, written by Albert Camus, symbols are used heavily to show the true meaning behind the common elements in the story. The rats in the story is a symbol used to represent death, the indifference of humans, and humanity’s resilience.
Death is commonplace in the story due to the pestilence in the town, the rats represent the suffering and mortality of the townsfolk. Initially, a few rats begin with skin lesions, this is paralleled by a few humans with the same exact symptoms. As the story progresses, more rats end up dead, each rat symbolizes another citizen of the town, Oran. This notion is furthered by the seemingly “war-zone occupation” of the rats inside the town. The rats’ struggle to overcome the plague leads to a fight between themselves and the people for food and shelter. Mirroring this, is the occupation of France by Nazi forces at the time. Both the occupations highlight suffering and the struggle to overcome outside influences and survive. The rats represent the human death and suffering in France and Oran.
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As the quarantine of the town continues, the humans not only ignore the rats, they ignore each other as well. Each person reverts to savagery as the conditions worsen, resorting to lying and stealing to survive. The human’s disinterest symbolizes the universe’s disinterest of the dead. While life outside the town carries on, the inhabitants of Oran become the rats while the surrounding towns become the apathetic onlookers. Soon enough, barbarity takes over and the predicament of the rats’ becomes background noise to the humans, just as the humans become background noise to the