Existentialism and The Plague Essay

Jean-Paul Sartre once said, patch is condemned to be free because once he is thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. Sartre speaks in accordance of rights with the values of existentialist philosophy, which is defined as a philosophical theory that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. Existentialists like Sartre spurned the existence of a higher power and the over arching influence of an unnatural conformist society, citing sooner the importance of individuality and acts of ones own free will.According to the doctrine of Existentialism, manners is not satisfying yet has substance. The singular purpose of life history is to drive forward into the infinite macrocosm of the universe, look for for ones own particular meaning of life. Additionally, Existentialists propose that on that point is no god there is no big man in the sky creating destinies for the humble earthly beings below. Thus, random instances of elation, violence, and catastrophe do not hold a greater significance with a supposed higher power or with the universe itself. Life is an experience specific to man alone.Albert Camus, in relation to this philosophy, delivered to the literary world his existentialist philosopher work, The execration, a novel based on the central theme of the inanity of human suffering and the involved individuality of the human experience. In the pages of this novel and through his characters and themes, Camus paints a picture of a mundane friendship thrust into an almost illogical, if tragic, state of disease and disaster. His unremarkable township of Oran, that in no way deserved such a virulent visitation of pestis, sets a perfect stage for the exemplification of existential teachings.The curious events described in this chronicle occurred in 194- at Oran. Everyone agreed that considering their somewhat extraordinary characte r, they were out of mall there. For its ordinariness is what strikes one first a unit of ammunition the town of Oran (Camus, 3). So begins Albert Camus gripping achievement, The Plague. From its very origin, the novel admits itself to be set in a small, dull town, unremarkable in every way. And yet, in the reciprocal ohm of life, the equable town of Oran is inexplicably bombarded with an attack of plague so malignant it is comp bed to the plague outbreaks of centuries before, which wiped out entire European villages.The typically overlooked literary element of setting, in this instance that of an ordinary North African coastal village, lies a sense of some of Albert Camus greatest genius. In a way that seems almost too subtle, Camus relates one of the primary tenets of Existentialism, that which emphasizes the absence of a higher powers influence on human life, to the unfathomable curse on an wretched town. Treeless, glamorous, soulless, the town of Oran ends by seeming restful and, after a while, you go complacently to sleep there. (Camus, 6).Thus, the town of Oran is classified as a sleepy, typical village, one unaccustomed to the despondency and pestilence that is rained upon it during the months of the forthcoming plague. oneness would assume that in a world ordered by a God, a town that had affiliated no crime wouldnt have received such an exemplary form of capital punishment. In such a world, one could argue that the town of Oran should have escaped into happy obscurity. One could withal argue the fairness of the fabled destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, towns famously steeped in sin.Not so would cry the existentialists, as one of the basics ideals of existentialism is the randomness of life. Good and evil in the context of life are simply subjective statements there is no ultimate reward for those who live as saints, just as there is no ultimate retribution for those who live in sin. In this way, the terror visited on Oran dead perpetuates t his existential idea. A town so typical and seemingly so ineligible of a tragedy such as the plague is, instead of protected from it, decimated by it.Perhaps Camus random devastation of his microscopical town is a result of his involvement in the European anti-Nazi resistance. During this time of unexplained evils the systematic decimation of the Jews and different undesirables and the horrors inflicted upon occupied France, among other instances of randomized human terrorism, Camus is said to have developed his existentialist perspective. In a world overseen by a benevolent, just maker, where is there room for the murders of innocent millions, or for that matter, the infestation of plague in a sleepy little town?One of the reoccurring themes of Existentialism is the importance of the individual decision meaning in a life thats ultimate result is death. Another facet of Camus The Plague that supports this particular aspect of Existentialism is his host of cast and characters. The townsfolk at large can initially be described as hardworking but self absorbed, if not entirely self centered. Theirs is a community of particular habits and personal needs. Seemingly, the only unifying factor of these citizens seems to be in commerce, or as Camus puts it, Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich.(Camus, 4). The masses of Oran find meaning in their businesses, scorecard playing, and cafe going. Though the act of death is described as difficult and discomforting (Camus, 5), the people of Oran seem to consider it in its natural courses. The citizens are entirely resigned to their tedious way of life in fact scarcely a soul stirs at the curious sight of rats dying in masses in the streets. Incredibly, beyond the initial panic of the plague, the citizens seem to resign themselves to that as well. There was the same resignation, the same long-sufferance, inexhaustible and without illusions. (Camus, 184). A great m both of the prisoners of Or an had embraced Nihilism, a philosophy in which nothing has any value or any meaning, and pursuit of finding either is futile. Interestingly, the side of those in Oran and Nihilism itself run conversely to Camus actual beliefs. Influenced by the early death of his father and his childhood poverty, as well as a terrible bout of Tuberculosis, Camus actual theories involved a complicated correlation between the lack of hope and despair in a life that exists without any intrinsic meaning.Camus philosophy can best be described as a daring experiment in optimism without hope a life that resists the illusion of a preset good outcome without succumbing to despair. In accordance to his personal beliefs, an existential hero designed by Camus resists the despair of a life hurtling toward death and instead rises above death to do good works in the manner of a painfully cautious optimist. One such hero is Dr. Bernard Rieux, narrator and chronicler of the plague.Rieux shows his existential floa ter early on in his narrative, frequently questioning the conformist ways of Oran society and continually distancing himself from the trickery of their half-formed lives. His choice of profession is a prime example of choosing to rise above death to do good, instead of worshipping the god of business like his peers, he is instead a physician. By their very nature physicians labour an existential battle of healing the sick against an all too present possibility of death.Though separated from his wife, Rieux fights on through the plague, administering serums, seeing to the afflicted, and organizing sanitary squads with the help of other active citizens. Rieux is ever mindful of his responsibilities to others, remarking that the innate thing was to save the greatest possible number of persons from dying and being doomed to unending separation. And to do this there was only one resource to fight the plague. There was nothing admirable about this attitude it was merely logical. (Camu s, 133). In this passage, Rieux clearly exhibits Camus own deeply felt obligations towards society, choosing to fight an inevitable evil quite a than resign himself to it. Over the course of his life, Camus spoke out against many another(prenominal) social injustices, including the genocides of the Second World War, pile union discrepancies, the death penalty, and injustices within the communist party, which he had formerly been associated with and which cost him many friendships, among them Jean-Paul Sartre.In a case of art imitating life, Rieuxs consistency with himself and with his beliefs caused him much personal hardship and endangered his life. However, his commitment to others make him less despondent and more aware of himself than the rest of the town, giving him a strength that not many shared and allowed him to find his true-self, which is the ultimate goal of Existentialism. In his admirable struggle, Rieux clearly demonstrates the most idealistic goals of Existentiali sm and in turn represents Camus interpretation of the philosophy.Speaking on the attitude of futility that is sometimes associated with Existentialism, Albert Camus said, In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. In the very heart of his philosophy, Albert Camus accepted that life is merely a vehicle for death, that there is no higher power pulling the strings, and that the meaning of life is attributed to the individual. However, at his core, Camus believed that life was an opportunity to rise above death to accomplish more and do better. The greatest sin was a resignation to death and despair, an indifference to the opportunities afforded to you by free will.In the randomness of life, things legislate. Small coastal towns suffer a swift, arbitrary attack of bubonic plague, and Algerian authors die in car crashes when they should have been taking the train. The ultimate question of Existentialism is, does life have any meaning? Ultimate ly, the key question of Existentialism is answered by that philosophys very tenets. Life is afforded meaning by the individual, a meaningful life is lived through ones specific actions to the things that happen in the randomness of ones existence.