Tacit Love In The Plague

The Plague, written by Albert Camus, addressed the events of the epidemic that pummeled major parts of the world. During the 1940’s, the Plague , also referred to as the Black Death, infected the city of Oran, Algeria. Citizens living in Oran were able to relate to each other based on , “ how the people work, how they love, and how they die.” Unfortunately, all three subjects were addressed in the novel. However, the author especially proposed the importance of how the people in Oran loved. Throughout The Plague, the author expounded on the subject of tacit love and how it was and continues to be so easily overlooked.
The narrator, Dr. Bernard Rieux, presented an eyewitness account of the Plague. Beginning in April, the disease was spread by rats, transmitted by fleas that were infected by harmful bacteria. When these rodents were found dead, strewn about the city, many residents began to panic. Newspapers spread alarming information which regarded cautions citizen should take. As the Plague became a reality, Rieux’s wife was sent to a sanatorium to aid her in recovery from a long sickness. Her absence throughout the novel exhibited Rieux’s struggle with tacit love. He had taken …show more content…
In contrast to the beginning of the plague, people were no longer indifferent to one another's suffering. All people were plunged into this reality of “extreme suffering, madness and compassion.” Many more months passed without hopes of the plague’s end. It had instead become an “omnipresent reality, obliterating all traces of the past.” The climax of the novel was when the Plague had finally come to a close with the opening of the gates of Oran. The people announced the success over the Plague, which brought joy. Opposite of this joy, Dr. Rieux received word of his wife’s passing. She had died while still living at the sanitarium, while waiting to be reunited with