Monday, April 12, 2010

Dr. Bernard Rieux

The doctor is an interesting character; he, as the narrator and a character, attempts to be objective in his view of the plague because he understands its unbiased nature. He already is an objective man as a doctor because he sees all sorts of patients and is simply concerned with their health, not their ranking in the hierarchy of man-kind.

His objectivity intensifies with the progression of the plague. He even appears unfeeling according to Raymond Rambert in the middle of the story, but in truth he only tries to hide his personal emotions (regarding the health of his wife) in order to be more sympathetic toward his patients. Eventually this proves to be too overwhelming as the number of cases and deaths increases; in order for him to be successful in helping other people health-wise, he can't also take care of each one emotionally.

The elusive, deadly nature of the plague is what affects Dr. Rieux. Having to push aside his own problems to deal with the unrelenting, unpredictable, ever-growing problem of the masses hardens his heart because he must continually fight the plague for other people's sake. He has to rid himself of the emotion to feel for himself so that he might feel something for others; however, once one can no longer conjure emotion privately, one can no longer conjure it publicly.

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