Tarrou: The Plague's Only Hero
Beginning of paper
In "The Plague", Albert Camus pits humanity against an unstoppable
force of nature: the bubonic plague. He creates a variety of 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 o ....
Middle of paper
.... points
out that he neglects his basic duty as a reporter by failing to record
anything (109); a duty which Rieux and Tarrou fulfill. Grand produces two
sentences and does nothing to fight the plague, which McCarthy interprets
as a parody of Rieux's inability to explain the plague (109-10). Cottard
wholeheartedly embraces the plague, revels in it, and attempts to profit
from it. The rest of the people either waste their time, waiting for the
end (the old man spitting on the cats, the bean-cou ....
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Word count: 785
Page count: 3 (approximately 250 words per page)
