“What we learn in time of pestilence:” Legal Lessons from Camus’ The Plague

Nobel Prize-winning writer Albert Camus’ 1947 novel The Plague, set in the Algerian city of Oran, opens in grotesque fashion: Swarms of dying rats flood the streets, bringing with them fear, disgust, and the dreaded bubonic plague. As the disease tightens its grasp on Oran, whose citizens dismiss the gravity of the situation at first, local doctor Bernard Rieux watches the crisis unfold from the front lines.[1]

Many have interpreted The Plague as an allegory for the opposition to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II — Camus himself was an active member of the French Resistance, writing for and editing the Resistance newspaper Combat.[2] Recent op-eds from the New York Times[3] and Los Angeles Times[4] contest this claim, describing Camus’ novel as a more generalized portrayal of human vulnerability.

No matter Camus’ original intent, eradicating any disease, whether moral or biological, takes a great deal of strength and courage. Dr. Rieux’s staunch denial of his own heroism — instead, he insists on fighting the plague out of “common decency”[5] — calls to mind the sacrifices of the millions of healthcare workers risking their lives while continuing to provide care in the current coronavirus pandemic.

 Over 70 years after its publication, the novel presents other eerie, almost prophetic, similarities to life in the shadow of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This article will highlight the lessons we can learn from The Plague by drawing parallels between the fictional events of Camus’ novel and the United States’ early response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Skepticism and inaction take root in the early days of Camus’ plague, even among medical professionals. After the disease has claimed its first few victims, Rieux advises a local administrator to isolate new cases, but to no avail. “…The public mustn’t be alarmed, that wouldn’t do it at all,” another of his colleagues tells him later.[6] When the authorities finally convene to discuss the situation at hand, they once again take pains to steer clear of painting “too gloomy a picture.”[7] Their nearsighted optimism mirrors the initial reaction to coronavirus in America, where many viewed the pathogen as a distant, unlikely threat.

Camus shows a deep understanding of the systematic aversion of reality brought about by an emerging disaster, describing the widespread dismissal of the plague as a “bad dream that will pass away.”[8] Americans, too, turned to beacons of false hope: potentially deadly home remedies, the hoarding of household disinfectants,[9] and wishful claims that the virus would magically disappear with the warm April weather.[10] Certain remarks about possible cures for the coronavirus gained such traction that the New York Times felt compelled to publish an article titled “Please Do Not Eat Disinfectant.”[11]

President Trump declared a national emergency concerning the COVID-19 outbreak on March 13,[12] after the U.S. had reported well over a thousand cases.[13] Three days later, when the White House officially discouraged gatherings of over ten people,[14] scenes of spring break revelry continued as if nothing had changed: News outlets aired footage of crowded beaches and carefree tourists.[15] In The Plague, Rieux warns that even three days of negligence can have a huge impact on the rate of transmission.[16]

Some simply refused to heed warnings, no matter how dire. “If I get corona, I get corona,” a Miami vacationer infamously told a television reporter in March.[17] Even as states imposed more stringent social distancing measures, coronavirus skeptics continued to flout the law by protesting against stay-at-home orders.     

The next issue facing the fictional citizens of Oran is the dire shortage of medication, which renders Rieux and his colleagues helpless as they watch their patients die. “Do you know,” asks a concerned doctor, “that we haven’t a gram of serum in the whole district?”[18]When a shipment of serum finally reaches the anxious city from Paris, soaring demand for the sought-after treatment quickly depletes the scarce supply.

From personal protective equipment to ventilators to accurate diagnostic tests, all kinds of essential items are in short supply across America. A recent survey found that nearly 90 percent of U.S. mayors said they lacked sufficient supplies for their cities’ medical workers, while 85 percent said the same of ventilators for hospitals. State and federal authorities have provided supplies to some larger cities, but nearly two-thirds of the mayors who completed the survey said they had yet to receive aid from their states. The Washington Post reported on the survey, noting the devastating consequences of community transmission in the absence of adequate resources.[19]

As the increasing number of cases exacerbated shortages across the country, lawmakers and citizens alike urged Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act, a 1950 U.S. federal law giving the President greater control over private industries’ production of essential goods.[20] Trump authorized the use of the DPA for coronavirus-related purposes in March. He initially seemed reluctant to exercise its powers, including the ability to direct production to specific firms, but has since invoked the act to stimulate production of ventilators, N95 respirators,[21] and coronavirus swab tests.[22]Many criticized the delay between the act’s invocation and its use, citing the severity of existing shortages and the time sensitivity of the situation — as Bernard Rieux knew all too well, even a few days can change the course of a pandemic.

The lack of available personal protective equipment (PPE) has forced healthcare workers to resort to unorthodox, often dubious means of protection: reusing masks meant for one-time use or donning makeshift cloth coverings instead. A surge in mask purchases by members of the general public led to price gouging and further reduced the supply of PPE available for medical workers.[23]

 Due to the national coronavirus outbreak, the United States’ past failures to develop a sizable fleet of mechanical ventilators — despite the recognition of a critical supply issue over a decade ago — are taking their toll. A federal contract entrusting a small California company with developing the new machines fell flat, delaying the availability of affordable ventilators in healthcare facilities.[24] As hospitals facing potential ventilator shortages prepared for the worst, some laid out chilling plans for rationing life-saving treatment — choices that should never have to be made.[25]

Both the quantity and quality of coronavirus tests available in the U.S. have fallen short of national goals. Although some lawmakers have already weighed lifting local social distancing guidelines, a recent Harvard study cautions that the number of domestic tests must increase more than threefold before safely reopening the country even becomes a possibility.[26] And even previously conducted tests are not always foolproof: On April 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that violations of manufacturing standards and laboratory contamination at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had led to inaccurate testing. The disheartening results of the inquiry, part of a larger federal investigation of the C.D.C.’s practices, further eroded public trust in the American healthcare system.[27]

Government restrictions on movement confined citizens to their homes during Holy Week, evoking a passage from The Plague. “…it smacked of hell rather than of heaven,” the novel’s narrator writes of the plague year’s somber Christmas season.[28] But even among the deserted storefronts and frozen streets, he notes that one thing still remains in people’s hearts: hope.

Ultimately, hope is a key message of Camus’ novel, which is both a tale of human suffering and a tribute to our resilience and compassion in the face of the unknown.

 The Plague, in keeping with Camus’ absurdist philosophy, explores individuals’ different methods of coping with the Absurd — the absence of higher meaning in the universe and the inevitability of death. Some take solace in religion, while others lose hope altogether. And a select few of the town’s long-suffering residents, among them Bernard Rieux, confront the situation head-on and fight the disease relentlessly. Camus supported this approach: He believed that only by accepting the Absurd could people create their own meaning out of life.

Like the concept of the Absurd, the spread of the coronavirus has caused confusion and unease — and with good reason. Our questions about the pandemic far outnumber the answers. Nothing seems to make sense, especially given the scope of the disease and the suddenness of society’s shift from normalcy to chaos.

And just like Dr. Rieux, people around the world continue to fight the virus with everything in their power. Doctors, nurses, and administrators work grueling hospital shifts. Volunteers and medical workers manage and staff testing centers. Pharmacists fill prescriptions and dispense essential medication. Scientists are tirelessly searching for treatments and vaccines. Their efforts ensure that hope is never far from sight.

 After months of isolation, when the plague no longer poses a threat to Oran, the townspeople rejoice and share tearful reunions with friends and family. No matter how distant it may seem now, the day will come when we’ll be able to do the same.

[1] Camus, Albert. The Plague. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. Kindle ed. N.p.: Vintage Books, 1991.

[2] The Irish Times. "Camus and life in Combat." 

[3] de Botton, Alain. "Camus on the Coronavirus." The New York Times.

[4] Metcalf, Stephen. "Albert Camus' 'The Plague' and our own Great Reset." The Los Angeles Times.

[5] The Plague. 163.

[6] Ibid. 36.

[7] Ibid. 49.

[8] Ibid. 37.

[9] Heilweil, Rebecca. "Coronavirus scammers are flooding social media with fake cures and tests." Vox. 

[10] Bump, Philip. "What Trump did about coronavirus in February." The Washington Post. 

[11] Nierenberg, Amelia. "Please Do Not Eat Disinfectant." The New York Times.

[12] The White House. Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak. 

[13] The New York Times. "World News Updates: Coronavirus Death Toll Soars in Turkey; W.H.O. Warns of Vaccine Roadblock." 

[14] The White House. The President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America.

[15] Ortiz, Aimee. "Man Who Said, 'If I Get Corona, I Get Corona,' Apologizes." The New York Times.

[16] The Plague. 49.

[17] "Man Who Said, 'If I Get Corona, I Get Corona,' Apologizes."

[18] Ibid. 47.

[19] Miroff, Nick. "U.S. cities have acute shortages of masks, test kits, ventilators as they face coronavirus threat." The Washington Post. 

[20] U.S. Congress. United States Code: Defense Production Act of , 50a U.S.C. §§ 2158 to 2166 Suppl. 1 1970. 1970. Periodical. https://www.loc.gov/item/uscode1970-016050a006/.

[21] Vazquez, Maegan. "Trump invokes Defense Production Act for ventilator equipment and N95 masks." CNN.

[22] Collins, Kaitlan, Ryan Browne, and Paul LeBlanc. "Pentagon announces Defense Production Act to boost coronavirus testing swab production." CNN.

[23] Cramer, Maria, and Knvul Sheikh. "Surgeon General Urges the Public to Stop Buying Face Masks." The New York Times.

[24] Kulish, Nicholas, Sarah Kliff, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. "The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed." The New York Times.

[25] Fink, Sheri. "The Hardest Questions Doctors May Face: Who Will Be Saved? Who Won't?" The New York Times.

[26] Collins, Keith. "Coronavirus Testing Needs to Triple Before the U.S. Can Reopen, Experts Say." The New York Times. 

[27] Kaplan, Sheila. "'Coronavirus Testing Needs to Triple Before the U.S. Can Reopen,  Experts Say.' The New York Times." The New York Times. 

[28] The Plague. 260.