Media and the coronavirus: Frontliners against the ‘infodemic’
Co-authored with Jayvy Gamboa In the novel The Plague by Albert Camus, Raymond Rambert is a journalist from Paris visiting Oran, a plague-stricken town. Longing for his wife, Rambert stubbornly appeals to the authorities, and then eventually resorts to illegal smugglers, just to break quarantine. At the night of his negotiated escape, however, he finally releases his …
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Government in times of plagues
In the novel The Plague by Albert Camus, there are three characters – Joseph Grand, The Prefect and M. Othon – that represent how government officials responds to pestilence. In this coronavirus pandemic, their responses are mirrored by today’s officials. First let us examine Joseph Grand. He is a fifty-year-old clerk working for the city …
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Faith, doubt and love during plagues
A central character in the novel The Plague by Albert Camus is Father Paneloux, a learned and militant Jesuit, an expert on the thought of Saint Augustine, and representing what Christian doctrine can offer in times of pestilence. From his story, as Camus tells it, there are lessons that today’s pastors and churches should heed. …
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Business unusual: When the business community responds to a virus
Co-authored with Jayvy Gamboa In the novel The Plague by Albert Camus, there is an eccentric and mysterious character who goes by the name of Cottard. Unlike most people, this man welcomed the coming of the plague and lamented its end, since he was engaged in the illicit trade of contraband, taking advantage of the people’s cravings and …
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Lessons from Camus’ The Plague
The Covid-19 pandemic, as in all crises, brings out the best and worst of humanity. There is heroism and perfidy, complacency as well as discontent and cynicism; despair, anger, and fatalism. All told, individuals exhibit a wide spectrum of emotions, mind set and attitudes towards a distressing event such as the present pandemic now sweeping …
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