Plague: epidemic literature

Plague : Epidemic Literature

  Literature must be with not only society but it is also concerned with the situation of the society. As we know that the covid19 epidemic is going to affect very dangerous lives. Before many years ago as covid19 one epidemic virus's name was "The plague".

         On 11 March 2020,WHO declared Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic and reiterated the call for countries to take immediate actions and scale up response to treat, detect and reduce transmission to save people’s lives.

 " About novel : The plague"

          The plague is a novel written by Albert Camum. In January 1941, Albert Camus  began work on a novel about a virus that spreads uncontrollably from animals to humans and destroys half the population of the town where the virus began.

     " It was called La Pate/ 

               The Plague." 

         

       The plague novel published in 1947 and novel is described as the greatest European novel of the post-war period.

So, here is my blog on my initial impressions after reading the translation that was published in ten episodes in Gujarati daily 'Gujarat Samachar'. And watching videos resources. Which videos is given below.

 

                  

• Humanity - human self- centeredness vs human sacrifice.

            Novels are a balance between society and individuality. Where humanity - human self- centeredness and also human sacrifice in big epidemic isolation. The citizens of Oran were like the rest of the world, they were humanistis : they did not believe in pestilence. A pestilence doesn't have a human dimension, so people tell themselves that it is unreal, that it is a bad dream which will end. 

          Important line in the novel " Outwardly indeed, this    spring was like any other"

          The plague novel opens, an air of Erie normality reigns. Oran is an ordinary town', writes ' nothing more than a French prefecture on the coast of Algeria. The inhabitants lead busy with money centered and denatured lives, they barely notice that they are lives.

           "Camus told the writer Andre malraux that he wanted to understand what plague meant for humanity : "said that this subject seems so natural to me". 

• Science vs Religion - the question of God and religion in times of epidemics and calamities.

            In the novel "The Plague" we came to know about science and religion. How science and religion work on their own fields.

            World without God - If he believed in an all powerful God he would cease curing the sick and leave that to him.

            In the novel father penelocs believes that plague is given by God and that's true and we have to accept that everything. In the novel some important line that centralised religion that Christ father penelocs give speech about religion 

" ઓરાના રહેવાસી પાપનાં ઘડાં ભરાઈ ગયાં છે અને એમને સજા આપવા માટે ઈશ્વરે પ્લેગ ને મોકલ્યો છે". 

            

Apeople believe that God decided our lives but that is not right we came to know the difference between religion and science. If there is no belief in science, because of all that,all the people who are suffering from the virus plague they may not fight against the virus. There is science that helps us to stay alive. 

       There is one interesting argument against the religion 

      " What interests me is learning how to become a saint"

     " But you don't believe in God". 

     " Exactly! Can one be a saint without God? That's the problem, in fact the only problem, I'm up against today".

    

        In the novel one major character is Dr. Rieux, a version of Camus himself. He sacrifices his life and he tries to find antivirus for plague. What means by plague is a susceptibility to sudden death, an event that can render our lives instantaneously meaningless.

• Power politics - fascist forces of 1940s vs Surveillance society of 2020s.

      

Power politics forces of the 1940s. In 1940 the situation was very dangerous rather than the Surveillance society of the 2020s that we can say, in that time also had many problems in politics regarding plague virus.

     There is one example from the 1940s. When Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel raised his voice for people. They do not leave ahmedabad and they fight for people.

Surveillance society of the 2020s is also dangerous. In 2020, the coronavirus is the leading epidemic in the world as well as  plague virus. In the power politics we can say that 1940 is better than 2020, because nowadays in India one case of Chief minister is that he suffered from coronavirus and his treatment is very special for doctors. He had special room for his treatment. So we can differentiate the power politics of the 1940s and 2020s. 

• How this narrative is an archetype of epidemic literature.

       The plague is a novel about an epidemic. This narrative is an archetype of epidemic literature because in this novel a virus that spreads uncontrollably from animals to humans and ends up destroying half the population of representative modern towns. It was called La Peste/ The plague. The novel Plague is all about epidemic literature.

In the literature stereotypes, though, they are rarely simplistic and have both positive and negative sides.

 A Hero, for example, can be heroic, but also violent – strong but also unthinking.

"Hunger can be dreadful, but it can also spur you to action."

Plague, too, is both dreadful but it also brings change. The Black Death that killed 50 million people in Europe in the 14thg century and brought dramatic shifts in medieval society.

Reference : Newspaper and videos

Thank you