Albert Camus' Description of the Plague

In spite of these applicable arguments, the republic should still have the absolute estimable to quarantine a city when the inhabitants have been exposed to an uncontrollable pestilential such as plague for several reasons. The most historic reason is the contagious nature of the disease. As explained by Dr. Bernard Rieux in the novel, the rapid deterioration of the patient upon infection and the high commit of infection required the swift and radical intervention of the nominate in ensuring that the disease did not spread elsewhere. Without imposing the quarantine, the state would not able to prevent the plague from "killing absent half the population of this town" (Camus 49) as well as other towns.

Because of the devastating nature of the disease, the state has the right to everywherethrow the rights of the respective(prenominal) because each individual's action has significant ramifications for the well-being of the stainless community. In the novel, Rambert, the journalist, sought to leave the town by communicate Dr. Rieux to certify that he did not have the disease. Dr. Rieux's explanation for his refusal to serve up Rambert offers the ultimate justification for the state to exercise its absolute right to quarantine a city. As Dr. Rieux explained, he could not be certain whether town inhabitants who did not yet exhibit the symptoms of th

e disease had been infected by plague (Camus 86). Furthermore, if the state authorities were to let any star of these inhabitants leave town, many others would demand to leave the town, thus establishing a precedent that would endanger the lives of inhabitants of other towns (Camus 106). At any rate, to hang the risk of spreading the plague to others, the state had to forbid the termination of anyone from the town of Oran.

The element of doubt was sufficient to retain the lot due to the terrible consequences of plague. Considering the fact that the well-being of inhabitants all over the country and the world were at risk through the actions of the individual, it was spanking that the state's right to quarantine a city supersede the rights of the individual inhabitants in the novel.

In contrast, the irrational and selfish nature of the individual inhabitants was exemplified in the decision of some families to ask their relatives to take return of the authorities' permission to allow them to return to Oran. Instead of feeling appreciative that their relatives might be spared the consequences of the infectious disease, these families would rather be reunited with their family members, at the expense of the latter's lives (Camus 70). In his analysis of the situation, Camus noted that the people's initial reception to the quarantine was focused solely on their loved ones who were staying in another town. More importantly, Camus pointed out that "the egoism of
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