We All Have Plague: Human Nature and Decency in Camus’ The Plague

The COVID-19 pandemic inaugurated a resurgence of interest in Albert Camus’ 1947 novel The Plague. Recent commentaries on the work have emphasized its themes of human nature, decency, and solidarity. However, hasty readings of the novel often trade in simplifications and misunderstandings that conceal or misconstrue the novel’s subtler existential and ethical insights. In this chapter, I set up a plausible prima facie reading of central themes from The Plague based on recent commentaries. I then show how the novel’s message is much more complex than the prima facie reading realizes. The Plague offers no simplistic ethical prescriptions. Rather, it challenges us to further existential and ethical reflection and inspires courage.