The guiding principle of community psychology has always been to focus on the setting or population as the basis for change, rather than the individual (Revenson et al., 2001). Therefore, when a community faces a threat or difficulty, it should be seen as a problem affecting all members of that community, not just one person. In The Plague,” the narrator tells the story of how his city responded to a plague that swept through it.
The book’s popularity can be attributed to its timing of publication and writing style, which has made it a classic. However, what truly impresses me is its groundedness. Throughout the pages, the author portrays the plague as a monotonous and deafening experience that can push one to the brink of insanity. Despite this, the story offers hope in its quiet and enduring way – a reminder that even when faced with nothing, there is always something to hold onto.
Perhaps this book is fitting for our current times as we face yet another one of nature’s ghosts – Influenza A H1N1 virus. It serves as a reminder of the book’s conclusion: that perhaps the day will come when, for the instruction or misfortune of mankind, the plague will rouse its rats and send them to die in some well-contented city” (Camus, 1991).
Today’s problem may be a virus and not a bacillus, but nevertheless, the world is once again battling sickness in the midst of a pandemic. This book speaks to us today by outlining how their community acted during a time of calamity. It gives hope that through the efforts of the entire community, including those who were not in positions of authority, things can be accomplished. Furthermore, it encourages readers to become part of a larger picture that includes not only themselves and their immediate family but also those around them in their community.
The story is set in the city of Oran, located in northern Algeria, during a period when the city was struck by a plague. The narrative begins with a description of the city prior to the outbreak and then proceeds to recount how Dr. Bernard Rieux, the town doctor, discovered a dead rat on the stair landing of his office building. This moment is remembered as the start of the plague because thousands of rats began dying and soon after cats and dogs followed suit until it eventually started affecting humans as well.
Like most disasters, we don’t realize what has hit us until it’s already upon us – such as with events like 2004’s tsunami that struck after Christmas Day or 2001’s terrorist attacks that destroyed New York City’s World Trade Center or even SARS’ global epidemic. When Dr. Rieux initially saw the dead rat on his landing he didn’t think much about it at first but later realized its significance once more rats started dying along with humans.
Similarly, when an earthquake occurred in an area before thousands were killed by a tsunami – safeguards were lacking resulting in many deaths. Since then changes have been made including educating locals on what to expect and how to act during such events.
Going back to the story, the account of the plague came from the journal of a visitor named Jean Tarrou. He told of how it affected the people of Oran and how a once dull and somewhat lifeless but habitual community changed because of the plague.
When it was acknowledged that the plague had come to Oran, they closed down the city to quarantine it and cut them off from outside world. Dr. Rieux had sent his wife to a sanatorium in mountains, and Jean Tarrou who was just a visitor to Oran were now cut off from loved ones along with all others trapped inside or barred from entering.
The plague that hit Oran became a reality for its people, and they began struggling against it along with suffering. They knew they must endure but wondered whether they would live or die.
Some like journalist Raymond Rambert who was visiting dreamt of escaping quarantine just to get back home while others found comfort in reason and justice as Jesuit priest preached punishment for sins brought by plague. Father Paneloux told people that this was punishment sent upon them.
Finally, there were those who gave themselves as volunteers in sanitary squads that helped alleviate pain and suffering caused by plague. Dr. Rieux, Tarrou, and Rambert were among these volunteers.
As summer came to Oran, so did worse effects of plague killing so many that there was no longer any space left for burying dead bodies while town’s crematorium worked overtime burning corpses.
The citizens of the town continued to suffer as more people died, and each day was filled with endless pain. The plague persisted without abating, causing Father Paneloux to question his belief that it was a punishment from God after witnessing the death of a child from the disease. He began to show more compassion for his flock. Jean Tarrou and Dr. Rieux reflected on whether extreme punishment for wrongdoing should have a place in this world, citing their opposition to the death penalty as one kind of punishment.This part of the book reminded me of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I watched survivors describe feeling a void while traversing down stairwells with the deafening question Am I going to die?” echoing in their heads. As a mere spectator, it is easy for me to say that I would fight to live; however, many who were on higher floors jumped to their deaths. I often wonder what went through their minds during those moments.Thus, I find it fitting to quote how “the townspeople had adapted; they had come to heel because that was all they could do” (Camus, 1991). When one thinks there is nowhere else to go, fighting may seem useless.
The story centers on several characters, including Cottard, who was strangely happy about the effects of the plague. As the plague worsened, Cottard indulged in wining and dining while remaining unaffected by the disease. Joseph Grand was a municipal office clerk and friend of Dr. Rieux who attempted to write the perfect novel. Though he fell victim to the plague, he miraculously recovered and sparked a trend of recovery among others affected by the disease. However, Jean Tarrou died from the plague.
The book concludes with Oran being relieved from its quarantine as suddenly as it came. Families were reunited, but Cottard began to despair and resorted to shooting people before being arrested by police due to his unusual reaction towards the plague. Dr. Rieux reveals that he is also a character in his own story and had hoped to convey how victims suffered during this time.
Although Dr. Rieux’s wife died while in sanitarium, he remained committed to fighting against future outbreaks of disease since the plague never goes away but just sort-of hibernates or hides until for a time until it comes out again.
We can never truly eliminate disasters, problems, or difficulties. It would be a utopia to be free of them, but that seems unlikely in this world. The central issue of the book is suffering – the human person’s suffering. It is merged with experiences of deprivation, despair, hopelessness, and anger. The book deals with the human person during their period of absurdity when fatalism takes over and it becomes difficult to remain stable and in control.
Being struck by a plague that kills hundreds a day and thousands a week is an experience that would shake the very core of any human being placed in the setting chosen by the author. How does one react to the possibility of being the next victim? Or how does one reconcile being apart from a loved one during their time of greatest need? More importantly, how does one survive day after day facing pain, death, suffering and hopelessness?
For most characters in this story, during the time of plague death was more real than life which became less tangible as each day passed. According to narration within this story misfortune lay where despair had become habituated; people usually adapt to their surroundings and in Oran’s case they adapted to living with plague.
However, the overwhelming presence of the plague loomed on the horizon, making everything else seem secondary or abstract in comparison. The people lived and breathed the plague, and much of their actions centered around it. Private citizens even volunteered their efforts to alleviate the town’s suffering by preventing its spread in any way they could. This is how a community can marshal its own strengths and knowledge to collaborate and empower its people – by using these same strengths and knowledge for projects that promote the well-being of the community (Dalton et al., 2001).
During the World Trade Center attack, it seemed as though modern-day technology had been defeated, causing us to regress back to living in fear of being attacked at any moment – like we were in medieval times. However, history has shown that human resilience always transcends past and present circumstances; somehow we always manage to get up again after disasters strike, rebuild our world better than before. It seems that when disaster strikes, humans find it within themselves to reach out to others in order to work things out together towards a better outcome.
The despair brought on by the plague and the town’s quarantine was a shared struggle for all. The characters in the story learned that by working together, they could fight against the plague. This meant not only ensuring as many people survived as possible but also addressing the diverse emotions and responses of Oran’s citizens to the presence of the disease.
Initially, fear drove their response to the outbreak, and some may have hoped it would simply disappear if ignored or fought against. However, they soon realized that their options were limited to passively accepting their fate or actively fighting against it.
When the plague reached its peak, townspeople established their own systems for preventing its spread or at least reducing it. They formed volunteer sanitary squads and disposed of their dead as best they could.
They tried their best to bury their dead decently. When the plague had them backed into a corner with the number of people dead, they also tried their best to shield the living from seeing how the dead were disposed of out of respect for both the living and the dead. The people of Oran went above and beyond by acting as one unit that served to lessen the suffering brought about by the plague. They changed their ways of life in order to accommodate problems brought about by this disease. However, knowing whether they made progress in battling against it was certainly difficult since, as recounted by Camus (1991), week in, week out, prisoners of plague struggled along as best they could.” A few even managed to imagine that they were acting as free men and that they could still choose; however, in reality one could say at that moment in August, “the plague had covered everything.”
The plague was not Oran’s only enemy; hysteria, depression and a general feeling of hopelessness and anger also came with it. These emotions were other enemies that people had to contend with and fight against especially since being quarantined cut them off from rest of world. For some individuals who were quarantined away from loved ones added more suffering.
Jean Tarrou and Dr. Rieux, along with their friends, knew that a fight must be put up, in this way or that, and there must be no bowing down” (Camus, 1991). Many heroes emerged in the story; characters such as Dr. Bernard Rieux, Jean Tarrou, and Joseph Grand responded to the challenge of defying the plague. At first, Dr. Rieux continued ministering to the sick as a doctor would during a time of plague. As it progressed though, even those who were not medical professionals joined in by volunteering when teams or squads were set up to ensure proper hygiene. They taught citizens the essentials of proper hygiene and made sure living conditions were disinfected for hygienic purposes.
Grand was a municipal office clerk who recorded all those who fell ill or died from the plague. They knew that preventing people from suffering was just as important as preventing them from dying.
During the plague outbreak, the community had to fight against it. This effort is known as citizen participation in community psychology. It refers to people’s ability to have a say in problem-solving, decision-making, and news dissemination (Dalton et al., 2001). To achieve this, citizens couldn’t solely rely on the local administration; they had to volunteer their services by setting up sanitary squads or teams. One squad encouraged essential hygiene and checked lofts and cellars that hadn’t been disinfected by other teams. Another section of volunteers assisted doctors during home visits and transported victims when necessary. Lastly, another group recorded data like the number of people falling ill or dying from the plague.
Concerns and possibilities varied throughout the course of the plague, from its onset to its peak and eventual end. At the start, citizens were preoccupied with the fear of infection, while others worried about being cut off from loved ones outside of Oran due to quarantine measures. This left some feeling isolated and imprisoned alongside those afflicted by the disease, with a constant risk of contracting it themselves.
As time went on and relief seemed increasingly unlikely, despair set in among the people. The narrator aptly describes this as the plague had taken away from all of them the power of love or even friendship, for love demands some future, and for us there was only here and now” (Camus 1991).
However, as survivors began to emerge towards the end of the epidemic, hope returned once again. Their concerns shifted towards what lay ahead in a post-plague world.
Some characters in the story, such as Cottard, viewed the plague as an escape from punishment. Instead of succumbing to the sorrow and pain of the community, he reacted differently and reveled in the hustle and bustle created by the plague that ensured his freedom. When the plague lifted and he knew his time was up, he then broke down into hysterics. However, like any significant problem that affects not only one or two but even three people in a community, eventually the efforts of a few become futile unless a larger number or even the entire community decides to help.
In this story, addressing the big picture” was necessary to overcome the plague since “no longer were there individual destinies; only a collective destiny made of plague and emotions shared by all” (Camus, 1991). This is social justice in action wherein one’s destiny is included as communities advocate for policies that promote well-being for all individuals especially those who are marginalized (Dalton et al., 2001). By choosing to volunteer to prevent its spread, they advocated for everyone’s health during this time of crisis.
Another dimension added to the story was Father Paneloux’s view of the plague as a punishment from God. However, he eventually found grace and compassion for the people. He explained that even though he believed the plague came from God, it also brought strength, goodness, and steadfastness needed to survive. In his own way, he made a statement that by believing in God, one need not accept death as certain fate but acknowledge free will to define their destiny and live.
Father Paneloux became more helpful after experiencing the death of a young child. He showed compassion for the people of Oran and became more sympathetic towards them like Dr. Rieux who did not believe in fatalism either. Instead, Father Paneloux preached that No, we should go forward groping our way through darkness stumbling perhaps at times and try to do what good lay in our power.” As for everything else, we must hold fast trusting in divine goodness even when it comes to deaths of little children without seeking personal respite” (Camus 1991).
A central concept in community psychology, evident in this book, is how a community learns to adapt during times of difficulty and becomes empowered along the way. The story exemplifies this by showing how individuals defy disease and empower themselves and those around them by choosing life over death. This transcends fatalism and allows mastery of life.
Another important concept is first-order change versus second-order change. Watzlawick et al (1974) argue that community psychology should focus on second-order change, which involves changing the system or structure involved in a problem to better fit the person and environment. First-order change only fixes problems within an individual.
The community psychologist should always keep this as a guide and strategy: Change should not occur simply because there is a problem but rather to make the world better for those who live in it.
In the setting of a plague, everyone would want to prevent its spread and work hard to battle it. To measure the outcomes, one must start with knowledge of the plague’s nature. In this story, they knew that the plague came from rats that eventually infected cats, dogs, and humans in town. They also knew that the disease caused considerable pain before killing swiftly in hundreds within days. Thus, Oran’s administration decided to quarantine the town; however, it was not enough as many continued to die.
During this time of crisis, citizens volunteered because they knew that depending on local authorities was not enough due to too few people coping with daily deaths. By volunteering themselves, they changed the system by preventing its spread through teaching essential hygiene practices and disinfecting as much of the town as possible. Lastly but not least important was their proper disposal of their dead.
As a community psychologist, one is an agent of change for betterment within a community.
There are many ways to approach problems. It may be tempting to give up and wait for fate to intervene, but as humans, we often choose to stand up in defiance and transcend whatever challenges come our way. This is the hope that drives doctors not only to empower themselves but also those around them. I believe this is the central concept of this book – whether or not we believe in a higher power, and regardless of our fate, the answer always lies within ourselves. We must choose life. To do so, we must not only choose it for ourselves but also for those around us because life has more meaning in community. In the presence of others, we become more alive.
As the author recounts near the ending, In the midst of the cries that increased in strength and duration, echoing a long way right to the foot of the building, while many-colored wreaths and showers of fireworks rose in ever-greater numbers into the sky, Dr. Rieux decided to write an account that ends here. He did this so as not to be one of those who keep silent, to bear witness on behalf of the victims, leave at least a memory of violence and injustice done to them, and simply say what one learns in such tribulations: namely that there is more in men to admire than despise” (Camus, 1991). Choosing life is how humans become part of a bigger circle called life.
References
- Camus, Albert (1991). The Plague. New York: Vintage Books.
- Dalton, J.H., Elias, M.J., and Wandersman, A. (2001). Community Psychology: Linking Individuals and Communities. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth.
- Revenson, T., D’Augelli, A., et al. (2002). A Quarter Century of Community Psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
- Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J., and Fisch, R. (1974). Change: Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. New York: Norton.
