It is impossible to read The Plague now without thinking of COVID-19 and its globally catastrophic and ongoing wreckage. Albert Camus’ The Plague once again became a much talked about book, one that captured the fear and isolation of what had become dubbed as the “new normal.” A new context for life was emerging, and once again we turned to literature to help us make some sense of what was happening. Books, both in print and digital, once again regained a certain popularity – they became a way to connect with others as we were holed up, prisoners in our own homes. When the virus did reach our shores and began to infect us on every level, taking life after life, decimating entire families, keeping the dying in a state of nearly total abandonment, we could not have predicted that by November 2021 there would be over 5 million dead globally.Īs people retreated into their homes under orders of “shelter in place,” many turned to Netflix and other streaming services, along with jigsaw puzzles and board games, to occupy the time. How did we end up so unprepared, so caught off guard? The first images of the dead, especially in Bergamo, Italy, a kind of ground zero on the European continent, were unbelievable for those of us living in first-world nations, particularly the United States after all, that could never happen here. The images of the dying, alone in hospital beds, some on respirators, others waiting in an endlessly long queue for respirators, were shocking. In fact, at the time we weren’t even sure if we were dealing with a pandemic at all.
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The Plague is relevant today, particularly given the challenges of distancing, alienation, and isolation imposed by not only disease but also by technology and clinical and administrative practices that have unintended consequences of incentivizing separation between patient and healer, thus engendering greater stress and suffering in both.When the first images of the dying were beamed into our homes or on computers and cell phones in early 2020, we were still uncertain about the severity of what would become the COVID-19 global pandemic. Camus' masterful engagement of the metaphor of isolation and its profound impact on suffering emphasizes the important role of community and spiritual perspectives of patients and providers in coping with serious illness, death, and dying. In addition to Rieux, this essay also focuses on the perspective of Father Paneloux, a Jesuit priest, who provides important religious commentary on the epidemic, before falling victim to it and dying.
The Plague tells the story of a bubonic plague epidemic through the lens of doctor-narrator Rieux. Health care providers have much to learn from Albert Camus' great novel, The Plague.
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