The Plague is a novel about a plague epidemic in the large Algerian city of Oran. It was written by Albert Camus, a Nobel prize winning author, in 1947. While any novel – and certainly this one – is more about the world one experiences as one delves deep into it, there are still occasions when you can derive some lessons. And this one is right at the top, considering the world is going through a pandemic as we write and (probably) as you read this.
1. Denial is the first response: Almost no one takes an epidemic seriously as it first arrives. The first response is always something like: it can’t happen. But it does. And only after a few doctors after have made enough noise and many patients have died do people realise the seriousness of the issue. How good it would be if every one of us took scientists seriously!
2. Quarantines are hard: People are not used to living in the confinement of their homes. However strange it may seem, staying at home, without being able to meet people is both painful and frustrating. This gets clear in the novel as well. It gets a lot worse once the epidemic continues for a long time. This is something we need to be watchful of. The worst part is not just the lockdowns and quarantine periods, but the time after that. You can expect an epidemic of mental health issues. Also expect a lot of change in interpersonal relationships.
3. People fall for conspiracies: In the novel, Father Paneloux calls it the result of Oran’s sins. We have seen that sort of talk, haven’t we? And this has consequences in the real world as well. It is human behaviour though. When one goes through a lot of stress in an isolated and painful scenario, one is likely to err with regard to their rational faculties.
It’s not the first time that we are going through a pandemic and it won’t be last. But if there is one thing that we can do as a society is not to repeat our mistakes. That would make it so much better.
Kalampedia 