Something that we talked about a bit right at the beginning of our reading of The Plague (and in class today) was Camus' intention to make this book an allegory of the Nazi occupation of Europe in World War II. As someone who has read extensively about the Nazis' role in WWII, particularly the Holocaust, I was excited for Camus to provide a thought-provoking parallel. However, I was thoroughly disappointed by the direction in which Camus took this parallel. And while The Plague is a fascinating novel through which to examine human nature and deadly plagues, it is inaccurate and even offensive as a WWII metaphor.
First of all, fascism is rooted in extreme government control. In The Plague, the government is very neutral and rational, eliminating this most basic and foundational piece of fascism. Furthermore, in the novel everybody is unified against the plague, which disrupts the parallel between medical teams and resistance groups, since resistance groups were at odds with most of society. It is ignorant to frame Nazi-occupied France (or any Nazi-occupied country in WWII, for that matter) as fully unified, either in support of or against the Nazis, but Camus does exactly this.
Secondly, a cornerstone of Nazism is the systematic targeting of certain groups, while a plague clearly does no such thing. It is offensive to even suggest that there was anything arbitrary about who the Nazis placed in concentration camps and murdered. By failing to include an overly controlling government or a more systematic killer from his novel, Camus' allegory turns into one where the only significant parallel is mass death.
I am not saying that Camus' allegory has absolutely no credibility - there are some scenes that mirror scenes from Europe in WWII (for me, the most chilling of these were the descriptions of mass graves and burning the dead, both of which are clear parallels to the Holocaust). Even the final scene, where Rieux ominously hints at the plague never being fully eradicated, is a clever warning that Nazis and Nazi-like beliefs will always linger under the surface, waiting opportunistically. However, there are not quite enough connections, whether overt or covert, to make this allegory really work.
Yeah, I agree with you. I was initially planning to write my last blog post for this novel on something related to WWII, but I scrapped that idea because I just didn't see enough parallels. There were a few moments that popped out at me where I could definitely see a bit of that point peering out (such as the mention of efficiency at the camp), but I don't think it's necessarily enough to frame this novel as a WWII novel. Instead, I think it is more of just a novel focused on how people respond to the unknown. It also serves as a good tool to compare philosophies, but neither of those really do enough to make it a WWII novel. It's a valid idea, just not one related to Nazis.
ReplyDeleteI agree; I was really thrown off by how Camus exaggerated the indiscriminate nature of the plague, especially in the scene depicting the death of M. Othon's young, innocent son. As you pointed out, the Holocaust was anything but indiscriminate. I actually did some poking around on the Internet to see if anyone had come up with a thorough, convincing analysis of The Plague as an allegory for Nazi occupation, and I couldn't find anything worth sharing... Unfortunately, I actively *disagreed* with some of the analyses I read. If anyone has parallels they can draw, though, I'd be curious to hear them?
ReplyDeleteI think a better statement for this book would be that it was inspired by Camus's experience in Nazi occupied France, but it in no way demonstrates the actual events of the Holocaust. I can see where there might be some parallels; for example, people ignoring a seemingly ominous sign in front of them until it's too late, but it's not enough to make this a full-blown WWII allegory.
DeleteYeah it seems pretty loosely based on Nazi occupation, however I think Camus' point is the sysiphian parallels between the two situations and focused more on the parallels between the resistance and health workers than anything else.
ReplyDeleteIf I hadn't heard of the Nazi allegory theory beforehand, the idea of the Plague being synonymous with Nazi occupation would never have crossed my mind. If it's hinted at at all, it's only in the general moral and existentialist/absurdist questions the book raises. I think the situation of the plague itself doesn't work well as an allegory, but some of the same moral lessons still apply. Otherwise, I don't think the connection is clear at all.
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