Tension in The Plague
Throughout my reading of The Plague I couldn't help but notice how Camus builds tension through his writing. There are countless instances of foreshadowing that get me excited to see what happens next.
One instance of foreshadowing appears on page 14. Rieux has just started encountering more sick people and is starting to tie it back to the rats, when his visiting mother tells him "'I'm so glad to be with you again, Bernard,' she added. 'The rats can't change that, anyhow.'" I think Camus is pointing this out so we can see the contrast later, when the plague hits. After saying something as optimistic and specific as this, I sincerely doubt that it will turn out well for the Rieux family in the end.
Another instance of foreshadowing takes place after Rieux takes a look at Cottard after his failed attempt of suicide, and Rieux suggests that someone stay with him for the night. Grand, the neighbor that found Cottard and kept him from hurting himself too much, offers to stay the night. "I can't say I really know him, but one's got to help a neighbor, hasn't one?" (20) Grand says. This town is a peaceful one, and Camus seems to want us to know that they care for each other as neighbors. We know by now that the town is going to be struck by a much bigger threat, and I think this quote from Grand foreshadows that this caring neighbor philosophy will not be stuck to as strongly during the plague. By continually expressing the care and peace of the townspeople, Camus builds a lot of tension for later in the book, when things are more out of control and peace isn't possible to keep.
The novel's title even signals to us readers that the illness hitting the town is definitely not something to take lightly, so watching the town take it very lightly is even more stressful for us. Even after deciding to post notices about the sickness in public, Rieux notes that "one had the feeling that many concessions had been made to a desire not to alarm the public" (47). It makes us as the audience very tense to watch a town prioritize "peace" over health when the novel is titled The Plague (not to mention we have some experience with this phenomenon, living in America during Covid).
I'm excited to keep reading this book and I'm glad there's some real conflict growing.
It is almost frustrating how the book is titled the plague and yet all these people are oblivious as to what is oncoming. The rats to the reader is such an obvious sign to us. It is like when Hitchcock said a good way to create tension is have a normal conversation but tell the audience there is a bomb underneath the table. We all know what is coming but the characters don't so we are on the edge of our seats.
ReplyDeleteI love how he made me feel with the rats. I was like "jesus these people are so stupid there are dead rats everywhere and now people are getting sick can't you make the connection?"
ReplyDeleteYes as readers it was much easier to see all of the warning signs since we are just observers and because of the title of the book. We all knew from the start that the plague was going to hit Oran, which is why it was so frustrating when they kept on brushing it off or making excuses. However, at the start of our pandemic, a lot of people were brushing it off or making excuses, so I think that being removed from the situation allows us to see the fault in their logic much more easily.
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