The Plague
The PlagueThe Plague
In “The Plague”, Albert Camus creates many characters who all deal with the plague in their own way, but only Tarrou acts heroically. Rieux comes close to a hero, but he fights the plague because it’s expected of him and shows that he is not, at the end of the book. Besides Rieux and Tarrou, none of the other characters show any heroism to the plague, except the sanitation squad under Tarrou. Tarrou shows how to heroically deal with death. For these reasons, only Tarrou can be considered a hero.
All the characters except Rieux and Tarrou can’t be considered heroes. Paneloux believes in sainthood and God, but he does not help to the plague. Rambert chooses to run from the problem rather than face it. McCarthy also denies his basic job as a reporter by not recording anything; a job that Rieux and Tarrou take over. Cottard embraces the plague, and tries to profit from it. The rest of the people either waste their time, waiting for the end or join the sanitation squad, under Tarrou. Nobody takes a stand and resists death except Rieux and Tarrou.
Rieux and Tarrou do seem to show the same level of heroism. Both resist...
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