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By Abel Merawi
April 13, 2020 (Ezega.com) – Fiction is not always imaginary and imaginary. As the saying goes, it can be a reflection of reality. Classical literary works go further by representing reality with a human touch. The 1947 novel titled ‘The Plague’ by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus, is a classic as it transcends time and relates to our current situation. Represents the reality of an epidemic in the port city of Algeria, Oran.The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Oran was ruined by epidemics, especially in the first half of the 20th century, after European colonization. Camus uses this fact to create a novel that takes us through each stage of a plague. From the numerous ideas, I choose to focus on the progress of the plague and the reaction of people at all levels. I hope it serves as a precursor to the way we deal with COVID-19 individually and collectively.
The novel begins when Dr. Bernard Rieux finds a dead rat, which slowly becomes the subject in the city, as the rats were found dead everywhere. Then, the curious plague suddenly changes course, since they were no longer rats but people who died. The narrator comments: “There have been as many plagues as wars in history, but plagues and wars always take people by surprise.” Unfortunately, the same is true with the way we react to the new coronavirus. At first, we did not want to admit that it was an epidemic, we did not believe that it could happen to us. We feel it will pass like a bad dream; “But it does not always happen and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who die.” Think back to the absurd arguments you have heard around you about COVID-19: some said it was just the flu, others said it only affected China, then we heard that some say it does not affect blacks. We continued with our assumptions until it was impossible to ignore it.
The second part of “The Plague” paints the image of a locked city. At this point, the city of Oran was closed from the outside world, as were Wuhan and many cities around the world. The narrator described the feeling that woke up in our hearts when he wrote: “Hostile to the past, impatient of the present and deceived of the future, we were very similar to those whom the justice or hatred of men forces to live behind prison bars. “Depending on the effect of the current pandemic, most countries are in a state of emergency. The most affected places share the Camus feeling. Right now, who would want to think about the past when it only makes the present more depressing? Not knowing when the plague will end makes it difficult to think about the future. Therefore, we live impatiently in the present.
When we are agitated by the condition we face, we try to find comfort in every moment. Ironically, people assumed that rubbing alcohol is the same as drinking alcohol; as in this novel when the stores put the slogan: “The best protection against infection is a bottle of good wine.” Just think of the various traditional medicines you heard about to cure coronavirus and you will get the picture. In a surprisingly similar way, the government called a week for prayer, as did the Ethiopian month of prayer. As for people’s reactions, most still think it would not affect them: “Therefore, they did not feel compelled to make any changes to their habits yet. … Alarmed, but far from being desperate, they had not yet reached the stage where the plague would seem to them the fabric of their existence. ” Ask yourself how seriously you have taken COVID-19.
The next stage is one that we all should never hope to reach. However, it should be mentioned because if we don’t take it seriously, the worst will follow. The plagues take the lives of the victims and change the psychological composition of the survivors. As the narrator put it: “But under the prolonged tension it seemed that hearts had hardened; people lived with these groans or passed them as if they had become the normal discourse of men. “To normalize suffering and death as part of existence. To take death as mere statistics is to lose humanity. This feeling of indifference is a mental plague, which will happen when the unwanted visitor extends their stay.In Italy’s worst-hit cities, we hear how COVID-19 victims die in solitude and how formal funerals are no longer an option. The worst is described in this novel: “The naked bodies, somewhat twisted, slipped into the well almost side by side, then covered with a layer of quicklime and another of earth, the latter only a few centimeters deep , to leave room for subsequent shipments. “Let’s wait and fight so that it is not so gloomy.
In the third and fourth part of the book, Camus shows the peak of the disease with the way in which the value of life changes. He writes: “They were no longer their individual destinies; just a collective destiny, made of plague and the emotions shared by all. “As an existentialist, Albert Camus thinks that nature, including the plague, is neither good nor bad. It just happens without meaning. At those moments, it is difficult for a victim ask “why me?” Because it is not personal. Like volcanoes or earthquakes, plagues do not discriminate. Our destinies become one, we share our suffering. The most important thing is that plagues make life difficult to value when life is only the moment. He affirms: “Naturally, since love asks something of the future, and we were left with only a series of present moments.”
In the final part of the book, the plague suddenly begins to weaken and end in the same way that it occurred without warning. Dr. Rieux, who had fought to the end with the plague, hears this from his companion: “Of course, a man should fight for the victims, but if he stops caring about something other than that, what good is his fight ? ” We should do whatever it takes to fight COVID-19 as well. However, it should not change our values. We have to try to preserve our humanity. We fight pests because we don’t want to die. In turn, we do not want to die because we have values in life. And our fight must not be blind; It must be done with knowledge. Camus’s following words may serve as a reminder: “The evil in the world always comes from ignorance, and good intentions can do as much harm as malevolence if they don’t understand.”
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Abel Merawi He is a contributor to Addis Ababa for Ezega.com. He can be contacted through this form.
Other items from Abel Merawi:
History of pandemics in Ethiopia
Human fight against pandemics: historical perspective
Crisis speculators
You can make the difference
Rule of law for a free society
Adwa
The origins of the law
Determinants of market value: Part II
Determinants of Market Value: Part I
Your life also matters
Manifestations of artistic expression.
Achievements vs. Natural Accidents
The grip of sacrifice
Injustice is never justifiable
Educational demands of the future
Job security, life and the unpredictable future
The shift from racism to bodybuilding
Sacrifice the meaning of power?
Culture and market forces
Intersubjective reality
Seeking cosmic justice
National myths: creators and destroyers of nations
Are we truly free?
Maturity: the prerequisite for freedom and democracy
Loyalty to the truth, not the group
The value of work
The flaws of the Ethiopian political system
Intellectuals and people
Where are our pioneers?
The allegory of the cave and its lessons for leaders
The truth behind humanity
The seven virtues
The seven capital sins
What to do?
Building national identity
Adey Abeba and the spirit of change
Street violence
Living the truth as a human being
Hubris – The tragedy of not learning from others
The era of group mentality: us against them
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