Peste, La. Novel by Albert Camus, published 1947. It was begun during the Nazi Occupation of France, when Camus, cut off from his home and wife in Algeria, was undergoing medical treatment and working with the Resistance in the Lyon area. The book takes the form of a chronicle related (in third-person style) by Dr Rieux, who tells how the town of Oran is overcome by a plague epidemic. He traces the reactions of the townspeople from initial disbelief, through panic and hysteria, to a numbed acceptance of mass deaths, isolation from the outside world, and the imposition of restrictions such as curfews, quarantine regulations, rationing, and shortages. The literal narrative thus generates symbolic or allegorical parallels with occupied France or with life under any totalitarian regime. It also provides a metaphor for the universe of the absurd in which human aspirations are undermined by death or distorted into evil. The cast of characters develop a range of responses to the situation and enable Camus to adumbrate his philosophy of revolt while illustrating the shortcomings of religion, the dangers of nihilism, and the dilemma between the search for individual happiness and the need for collective solidarity.
[David Walker]
