The Plague Lit Card

Author: Albert Camus   Title: The Plague                                                                                                                                                                        Francesca Callicotte
Written: 1947                Takes place: Oran, Algeria
Organization: Narrative
Characters:
Name | Description | Significance to the story |
Dr. Rieux | The main character and narrator of the novel. Dr. Rieux is the first person to take real action and force agains the plague by trying to notify the authorities and urging their government to take action. Rieux tries to work against the plague even though he is aware that the actions that he takes have little to no effect on the situation as a whole. Though his wife’s assignment to an insane asylum and her death is tragic and suffered, Rieux separates his personal struggles from the struggles of Oran. | Rieux is the human within this story. Throughout the city of Oran, there is an heir of ignorance and complacency. During the plague, everyone recognizes their ignorance of life but don’t try to assist one another through their struggles. Rieux is the only person to insist on this aspect of humanity. While others are selfish, Rieux is selfless, dedicating his time and effort in to trying to help a hopeless situation while not focusing on his mother and wife. Even with the novel itself, for the sake of the reader Rieux tries not to add a personal account in order to deliver the most accurate tale.   |
Jean Tarrou | He is the unfortunate visitor who happens to be in Oran when the plague occurs. He likes to take record of the beginning stages of the plague. Throughout the novel, Dr. Rieux and Tarrou become very good friends to the point where they join in the same efforts in order to achieve the same goal. Tarrou forms a volunteer group to combat the plague. However, eventually Tarrou contracts the plague and dies. | Tarrou takes more significance from the motives of his actions than...