In the book The plague by Camus What are the major themes of the novel and how are they developed?

 

The book, The Plague written by Albert Camus, has brought about some very important themes which have been seen to well develop in the story. The themes that have been seen to be brought about by the book are as follows:

• Absurdism
• Suffering and death
• Communication
• Exile.
• Heroism

Step-by-step explanation

• Absurdism - This theme has been brought about by the way people are living in a world that they know they have to die at one time. Humans have been seen to be doomed meaning that they will suffer one day and die. In this way, they have even been made to chose whether to kill themselves or live with the sufferings that the world has to bring with it. The plague has been brought about in different ways such as when Cottard tries to commit suicide and has guilt, Father Paneloux watching his child die, and many more. These ways of living show the absurdism that people are having to live with.
• Suffering and death - The plague as the name suggests is not a good thing. It has lead to a lot of people having to die and many more who are left suffering by themselves. It has made some people see it as being a punishment. Suffering has been seen in many events such as when Father Paneloux seeing the death of Jacques which leads to him suffering to a point where he starts to question his faith in God. Death is also seen in the young some of M. Othon, Jacques, which is described as being brutal.
• Communication - As much as there are some bad things that are happening in this book, we are able to see communication as it involves human beings. This is seen in people such as Grand who tries to write a book but the first sentence of the book keeps disturbing humans. This shows that he is absurd with the communication that he is trying to put out there to the world. There is also some dialogue between different characters as it has been seen in the whole book.
• Exile - The absurdism of the plague has brought about exile in the town of Oran. It has left the gates or Oran closed in a manner that has exiled people and there is now the separation of people from their loved ones. An example is when a foreigner into the town or Oran is separated as he is not able to go back home while Rambert and Rieux have been separated from their lovers.
• Heroism - In spite of the sufferings that are there in the boo and the death, we have seen some people being hero such as volunteers that want to fight the plague. They see the plague as being the only downfall and say that they will rise up. There is also an anti-plague squad which has been formed and this has been seen to be a human thing to do to motivate people despite what they are going through.