The Plague - Pandemic Literature

Hello Readers,


COVID-19 (CoronaVirus Disease 2019) tuned the world upside down. No one can be spared by this disease if they will not take precautionary steps. It is a kind of contagious disease which spreads through the respiratory system, fomites and anyone who comes in contact with the infected body.


We all are quarantined in our homes because of the terrible spread of Coronavirus in all around the world. Some are willingly or unwillingly following lockdown, Of Course for our own health. Time and again every species on the earth faces many kinds of epidemics or pandemics. and after some time they succeed to come out of it by increasing their immunity against that disease or by inventing preventing steps to face that pestilence. But after a while War and Pandemic comes again with some surprising strength and disordered the decent life of people and community seems helpless.


So, The question is what people are doing in lockdown? There are many answers like They are spending their time with family, work from home, attending online seminars and webinars, enriching their skills, spare time for their hobbies and one of the most accepted ways is Reading literature.


Yes, It is an ongoing debate that how literature is useful in our day to day life? There is no need to give an answer to this question but still those who are in doubt may get the valid reasons that literature is an integral part of Human society after this Pandemic because most of the people used to read literature after locking up in their rooms.


History records only facts and statistics emphasizing numericals like how many are infected and the number of deaths. But Literature records the emotions and feelings of people. Harish Trivedi who taught English Literature at Delhi University rightly remarked that….


"Literature may not explain away or fight off things such as pandemic, even as modern science sometimes can't, but it does become a source of consolation, a way of sharing our common humanist concerns and in its own way provides
 the deepest and most insightful record of the events."


Here, as a part of the thinking activity given by prof. Dilip Barad I am going to throw some light on "The Plague" by Albert Camus and its relevance with the Corona Epidemic after hundreds of years as a part of Pandemic Literature. And What Corona Pandemic teaches us about humanity and the future Human world.

The Plague - As an Archetype of Pandemic Literature


The Plague by Albert Camus written in 1947, revolved around the theory of existentialism. Time and again The plague as epidemic literature proves relavantness as categorised under the list of Universal Literature. It promotes the idea of existentialism that no one is responsible for miseries and calamities, it is a part of nature as it is said in novels also….


" Pestilence is so common, there have been as many plagues in the world as there have been wars, Yet wars and plagues always find people equally unprepared."


If we see history there are dozens of Pandemics and it takes tens of thousands of lives. As a human being we learn new lessons from every pestilence and our life change at some extent with every epidemic. With the advancement of technology we developed many instruments and equipment but still many remain small in front of epidemics like Corona spread. Let's see r/o (Reproductive Rate) of some diseases…


  • Flu - 1
  • Smallpox - 3
  • Polio - 4/6
  • COVID 19 - Possibility to affect all people who came in the contact of corona carriers.


r/o stands for the transibility of a virus, it indicates a new number of infected person through an already infectious person. With rapid development the reproductive rate of different viruses is also increasing and this situation shows the truthfulness of the following quotation that wars and plagues find people unprepared because pestilence every time spreads with more strength. So, as a literary text The Plague by Albert Camus remains applicable in different epidemics and stands as an archetype of Pandemic Literature.


Religion Vs. Science during Pandemic

There are always two existing ways to see these pandemics by different people differently...


  • Religious
  • Scientific


Religion denies to ask questions and solutions for every question is that God gives punishment for our sins. On the other side science raises questions and provides evidence behind every happening. If we look at The Plague novel then it also emphasizes distinct ideas but like the present situation it also shows triumph of science over religion. Father Paneloux as a religious personality used to see things governed by God and Divine power. He said….


"Calamity has come on you my brethren and my brethrens you deserved it."


On the other side Dr. Rieux denied the idea of Collective Punishment. The strong argument is that if God punishes human beings for their sins then why are small innocent children punished. They haven't done anything wrong. Simultaneously if we jump to the present situation then it seems conditions are the same as it is novel. Here are also people divided into two groups: one who blindly follows religion and for them God is at the center in all the worst situations. Like religious personalities and leaders. Let's see some examples….


"Covid 19 could not harm a country that has "33 core gods and goddesses."
- Kailas Vijayvargiya
(The National General secretary of the ruling party BJP


"Jesus is my protection. 
He is my sanitizer."
- Father Mandi Allawi


These Pandemics may be able to raise the question against religious beliefs, as we all know that we have no proof that religion teaches morality and makes people more generous. But the roots of religion are not easy to cut down. It remains the same after the great plague and the still ongoing question: Will this Pandemic move people towards science instead of religion or not? People need to understand that what is good for the soul is not always good for their bodies. And as many scholars are predicting that after this Pandemic people trust over science will increase let's see what happens.


Health Before Wealth



In the beginning of "The plague" novel Camus described the city of Oran which is a normal city and the inhabitants are busy with their money making mindset. They have no time for family and for themselves also. They barely noticed that they were alive. But after widespread disease, people are quarantined in their houses and they learn that we are living beings and Life is not only for wealth making. Such questions are also raising people's minds nowadays…


Why are we making money?
What is the importance of money when we are physically ill?
What is the meaning of living without family?
What is the importance of Love in Human life?


So, after Pandemic people learn a lesson that health is more important than wealth. There is also Gujarati proverbs like….જાન હૈ તો જહાંન હૈ, જાન બચી તો લાખો ઉપાય.


The impact of these thoughts remains after the epidemic. Because different countries noticed different crises to cure this disease. There is also scope of upgrading systems like….


  • Make hospital instead of buying bioweapon and constructing temple
  • Develop the emergency stock of medicine for sudden crisis
  • Upgrade Health systems, equipment with modern technological devices
  • Rise of Telemedicine
  • Provide Additional facilities to Doctors, Nurses, Health workers, Police, Sweepers… because they are the real warriors


Humanity - Self centeredness and Sacrifice

"Outwardly,indeed this spring
 was like any other"


If we see things superficially then it seems it is the same as others but no it is not. There are some major differences if we observe minutely and that is it will enlighten the human spirit with humanity, self sacrifice and to some extent self centeredness is also important.


Human beings are social animals. They are habituated to live in society and community. And every generation teaches their children to live with society and join family gatherings.


But as Covid 19 pandemic emphasis more on Self Isolation, self quarantined, denied hand greeting, ignore public gathering, make distance between people, avoid one another's touch...So these all teach that self centeredness is also as important as self sacrifice which we are learning from childhood.


So, This pandemic taught the lessons of humanity to help one another, and solidarity as well as absurdity and individual choice also have some importance.


References


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