Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Part One, page 1 – 63

Camus sets the stage and introduces the players.



To avoid spoilers, please limit comments to page 1 - 63

Hi Cphe! In this case, I think Camus is trying to link how we respond to, in this case, a health crisis, to how people respond to war. It is something beyond their scope and so shocking that they try to ignore it, push it aside, and make excuses so they can continue with their comfortable and uncomplicated lives.

"...... There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always the plagues and wars take people equally by surprise. In fact, like all our fellow-citizens, Rieux was caught off his guard, and we should understand his hesitations in the light of this fact; and similarly understand how he was torn between conflicting fears and confidence. When a war breaks out people say, 'It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may be 'too stupid', that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves."

Did you find this believable, or not really?

Warning: The following blather is based on my own random musings and bits of data and impressions picked up haphazardly. I.e., I'm not an expert and don't really know what I'm talking about:

It seems that most of the time, when people get sick, doctors don't really know the cause of their illness. They go with what seems probable based on typical cases. Resources are rarely available to carry out any kind of definitive diagnoses. And that's in the best 21st century hospitals with the most highly educated and experienced doctors. But the history of medicine is full of cases of doctors and officials who are unprepared for crises and who tend to deny or ignore warning signs.

Also, every time there's an earthquake, war, terrorist attack, or large scale accident in the world, locals discover again, as if it were astounding news, that their hospitals and medical facilities are entirely incapable of handling a crisis. They just don't know what to do.

If 911 was "a joke" in the nineties, what's it like when the whole city starts hacking up their lungs?

Caveat: But... if experience can teach lessons, then systems of intercity and international cooperation can, probably, theoretically bring relief, especially when hundreds of millions of media addicts and their political reps go into emergency mode... sometimes based on rather random triggers.

Cleo wrote: "Hi Cphe! In this case, I think Camus is trying to link how we respond to, in this case, a health crisis, to how people respond to war. It is something beyond their scope and so shocking that they..."

I think thats right.

Most of the characters in the first part were living in a state of denial. They knew they faced an issue and hoped to ignore it, in the belief that it would disappear on its own.

Cphe wrote: "I didn't view it as so much a denial per se as everyone caught up in their own self and unable to see beyond. I got the impression they were quite isolated geographically and lacking in resources. ..."

I viewed it as the opposite. Oran was a port city (if I remember correctly) so it would have had commerce and exposure to different nationalities and people from outside their environs. We also see vacationers there (Tarrou) so it appears that it is well-known. So it was because it wasn't isolated, that I was surprised that the people appeared so myopic and concerned with only what was happening in their own narrow circle.

I think that while the Bubonic plague was spread by flea bites, that it could also be spread person-to-person by coughing, but I'm not 100% sure that's accurate.

Cleo wrote: "...I think that while the Bubonic plague was spread by flea bites, that it could also be spread person-to-person by coughing, but I'm not 100% sure that's accurate..."

Pneumonic plague is related to bubonic plague, it can spread without animal agents, and apparently one can develop from the other. And plague is bacterial: Wiki.

I'm behind. What I'm noticing in the early stages is the way that he mentions the frame and talks about source documents and so changes perspective a little. I think it makes it feel more like an example of something, somehow, almost like a case study.

I was also surprised to see so many passages describing how ugly the city is. I know that Camus has written other pieces about how beautiful Algeria and its cities are, and I wondered if this was some kind of joke?

also, did anyone else notice this?

Grand avait même assisté à une scène curieuse chez la marchande de tabacs. Au milieu d'une conversation animée, celle-ce avait parlé d'une arrestation récente qui avait fait du bruit à Alger. Il s'agissait d'un jeune employé de commerce qui avait tué un Arabe sur une plage.

Nicole wrote: "also, did anyone else notice this?

Grand avait même assisté à une scène curieuse chez la marchande de tabacs. Au milieu d'une conversation animée, celle-ce avait parlé d'une arrestation récente qu..."

yes, The Stranger reference i think