Preview

Albert Camus The Plague

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
310 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Albert Camus The Plague
Symbolism in Camus' "The Plague"

For the first essay for Integrative Studies 300 I would like to write on the Camus work, The Plague. Since Albert Camus has a philosophical view unlike that of many western writers, the book can serve as an excellent reflection on an unpopular view of life, living, and death. Life without a god poses many ironies; Camus attempts to satisfy those ironies. By using many examples of symbolism, Camus conveys his own philosophy in a certain way so that his characters are subject to his personal ideals and morals. Camus believes there is no god, and essentially that human beings need to be responsible for their own lives, happiness, and decency. Through the eyes of all of his characters, the author answers questions

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Robert Camus is a famous French author who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957. Camus has many famous novels including Le Mythe de Sisyphe, La Peste, La Chute, L’Exil et La Royaume, and L’Etrange or The Stranger. The Stranger is a short novel written in 1942 that details the life of a man named Meursault. The novel follows Meursault as he develops and changes according to dramatic events in his life. The novel shows the changes in his characteristics before any events, after he kills a man and is put in jail, and after he is sentenced to death.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most people when trying to understand why things happen, ask the question: why? And most of time the answer to this question never ceases to include an individual's viewpoints, beliefs and feelings. For it is these very things that shape how others see the world. He lives an emotionless, removed man in a world filled of people who value the very things he deems unimportant. The culture of people around him, are ones who need explanations for why things happen or why things don’t happen. However, the main character of Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Monsieur Meursault sees no purpose in the…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe our lives are similar to the fate of Sisyphu because of the way life is perceived after death. He was given an endless, meaningless task that can be compared to the things we do in our own lives. Sisyphus showed through his actions that he would rather help his friends and family than to blindly follow the tyranny of Zeus. In The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, he wrote, “He, who knew of the abduction, offered to tell about it on condition that Esopus would give water to the citadel of Corinth. To the celestial thunderbolts he preferred the benediction of water.”(2) Sisyphus, although a wise man, rebelled against the will of the gods and deferred to give his friend peace of mind.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is there truly any justice in the novel The Stranger, written by Albert Camus? This is a question that naturally protrudes throughout the novel, as it is not abundantly clear what Meursault, the protagonist, was, in fact, put on trial for. At the beginning of the second part of the narrative, it is understood that he is put on trial for the murder of an Arab; however, it later comes to our attention that the murder was not the primary reason of his trial, and perhaps not even an essential one for that matter. The fact remains that Meursault was undoubtedly put on trial, not for the murder committed, but for being the way he was: unemotional through the eyes of society, which was represented by the jury.…

    • 875 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctors! Doctors have been around for centuries with all different techniques. The Renaissance is known as the “rebirth” in French, the rebirth of classical art, literature, and science. Science during the renaissance was seen in the odds of many. Medical practices during the renaissance were absurd however, many couldn’t afford it or they did not believe in doctors because they believed they were evil. During this period of time due to the lack of hygiene and a proper system like today’s world this caused many diseases including even plague causing the emerges of the plague doctors and their believes. Also women of this era did not have the advantage has we do in today’s world in taking care of ourselves… a mid-wife was the closest women…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plague: The Black Death

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The black plague: The black plague also known as the black death started in the years 1346-1353 leading in the deaths of 75 to 200 million deaths, almost a third of the population. The black plague is also known as the black death because, of the dark patches on the skin caused by subcutaneous bleeding. The black plague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. A deadly epidemic known as the Sixth-Century Plague or Justinian's plague struck Constantinople and parts of southern Europe 800 years earlier. The Black Death returned several times throughout the rest of the century. (mid 14 century)…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A human life is made up of patterns. More often than not, the events of a day fit into an established schedule for any given person. Reoccurences are the commonality- much more unusual would be the life which was composed solely of originality. It is much the same in books, after all, most intend to reflect some aspect of reality. However, patterns in books tend to have more significance to them than patterns of a real life, since the author has painstakingly considered the exact ingredients to add to their work, and in what quantities. Nothing is added without a purpose, so if something reoccurs in a book, beyond the mundane circumstances, chances are, there is a weighty purpose. In Albert Camus’ The Stranger…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Symbols are everywhere, embodying meanings larger than life. One can find symbolism in music, literature, and even in decoration! They play huge roles in specific themes or emotions in certain situations. In “Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allan Poe, death is personified, terror reigns, and tragedy strikes, as he tells a short tale of the infamous “Black Plague” that reigned over Europe in the middle ages, and how death is absolutely inevitable. In the story, Poe used an intense amount of symbolism within the seven colored chambers to establish the mood of the story, the seven stages of life, and to emphasize the terror of the situation.…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the story Oedipus The king by Sophocles, the reader developed much sympathy for Oedipus, during Oedipus’s and Tiresias's conversation, Tiresias tries to explain to Oedipus he killed Laius and he is living in what he was told how he was going to be living while he was living in the city of Corinth that he was going to marry his mom and kill his dad. So Oedipus travels away from Corinth to the City of Thebes and on his way there kills Laius how is his biological dad and marries his mom. Oedipus does not know this at the time therefore the reader has sympathy for Oedipus because once he found out his future, he knew it was bad and tried to get away. However really got into it.…

    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Stranger by Albert Camus is without a doubt one of the most iconic French novels to be released. The story begins with main character Meursault being introduced as someone with emotional indifference and lack of care for daily life. From there, readers get to see different sides of his character through interactions with various characters. Like most literary pieces, these small characters help contribute to the major character’s development. One of these characters in the book is one of his neighbors named Raymond. Raymond plays a major role in shaping the story’s plot and main character’s life. Meursault’s submissive and unconscious personality are revealed through Raymond and his heinous acts.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As humans, we generally seek other entities to make ourselves complete, or 'fulfilled'. What is sought after varies from the individual, as some seek money, others fame, yet most people seek companionship. The Stranger by Albert Camus challenges this commonplace ideology that humans need emotion based relationships for completeness. Through the character Meursault and his exchanges with others, over encompassing themes such as the importance of emotions, and relevance of human life are challenged; whereas the counter argument of significance of the physical world is brought up.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Albert Camus’ Nobel Prize winning piece of work, The Stranger, he presents to his readers one of the most confusing and “strangest” character in the history of literature, Meursault. Meursault lives in a town called Algiers, and there, he gets himself into an unavoidable series of events that will lead up to his unfortunate end. Albert Camus does a wonderful job of weaving hints and traces of significant symbols and references to other famous works of literature to build the atmosphere and the intensity of the novel. In Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the Foster mentions that one way to create immense depth and relationship between people, objects, and feelings in literature can be done by using various references…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus: A Tragic Hero

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During the evolution of humans, in every culture certain people are cursed from birth. In ancient Greece, these people were known as tragic heroes. The stories of these tragic heroes are known as tragedies, some of the earliest known tragedies are Medea and Oedipus the King. As stated in The Vocabulary of Ancient Greek Tragedy in Modern English by Francis Blessington the Greeks believed, “a hero must explicitly accept his fate. But in Greek tragedy, the hero or heroine or the play itself questions fate” (Blessington). The greatest example of this is Oedipus The King by Sophocles. Oedipus is considered to be the greatest tragic hero, because he has a great sense of hubris and he makes errors in judgement, which leads him to realize the sins…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hemingway's Sickness

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page

    Because of the War to End All Wars, which occurred previously to the events in the book, Hemingway alludes to how every character is suffering under a sickness. Despite the fact that not every character had direct contact with the war, they all incurred the resulting sickness of living when one is surrounded by death. This sickness occurs when one has stared into the face of death and survived, only to find the world you once knew to be completely decimated. Now, they are all suffering under the onerous sickness. However, the characters are not alone in this suffering: real-world war veterans often come home with PTSD, which is undoubtedly similar. Furthermore, even I can relate on a smaller scale. When I was younger, I was present in California…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is an absurd hero? An absurd hero is someone who is determined to continue living with passion even though life appears to be meaningless. It seems like one of Mersault’s passion is hanging out with his friends. In The Stranger by Albert Camus, Mersault is an absurd hero because when bad things happen in his life, he still finds a reason and passion to live and be content with his life.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays