As Kafkaesque As It Gets
Albert Camus’s “The Plague”
Set in the French-Algerian city of Oran, Albert Camus’s book “The Plague” is a masterpiece that starts off slowly and slowly twines its way through deep concepts that will shake and twist our believe in ourselves.
“La Peste” was originally originally written in French and translated to English. The story chronicles the city being afflicted by a bubonic plague that affects different characters differently, and the apparent and complete powerlessness of characters in the face of the disease and the circumstances it brings about.
The struggle of the characters are presented in a stubborn and undramatic way — yet with a fictional flair that beautifully captivates your attention while bringing across important concepts.
The Plague is a Kafkaesque text that questions the futility of mankind’s efforts again nature, and itself.
Camus mirrors the ideas he proposed in The Myth of Sisyphus as he posits that despite the futility of man’s efforts against a worthwhile venture, a noble doing.
He does not believe in giving meaning to ideas of death and life, and refuses to believe in a higher power for that purpose — rather, he supposes the existence of “no meaning” and insists that despite that, one must continue living, for that is all we can do.
Camus also inquires into the many ways humans accept this truth in some of his characters — some he pushes to the edges of their tolerance and breaks, while others he shows as the “role models” of his believes. Some experience pain with no reason, death with no reason.
Anyone who wants an introduction to the ideas of existentialism from Camus’s viewpoint should read The Plague. With simple vernacular and deep views, The Plague is a masterpiece that has been used as an analogy over the years for a wide variety of things — including even the French resistance against the Nazis in WW2.
