#Rieux/Tarrou

[ghostreviewer]

The Plague by Albert Camus

3.5/5⭐️

CW: Spoilers

So, I read this book for school. It was meh, didn’t really like it but didn’t dislike it. The one thing that kept me going though was Rieux and Tarrous relationship. The book says they’re just friends. My teachers, say they are friends. But are friends so intuned with each other that when one is clutching something and closes their eyes with the other sitting away from them to then opening their eyes to see their person standing next to them? No, no I think not.

When Tarrou gets the plague Rieux doesn’t send him to isolation and stays with him at home (also Tarrou moved in after like, 2 months of knowing Rieux and they spend like, all their time together) and cares for him. Panneloux, another friend of Rieux, Rieux sends him to the hospital. But not Tarrou. That’s more than friend behaviour.

Also, Tarrou wanting to help Rieux and take the brunt of the social aspect for him is just, amazing. Rieux remembering Tarrou by how he would drive Rieux’s car when Rieux was absolutely exhausted. Sir, they’re in love!

Without their love, this would be getting a 3/5 rating, maybe even 2.5/5, it’s okay but not great. But the love? That’s a whole point by itself. Recommend? No. Read the Rieux/Tarrou fanfics? Yeah

[epichunterka]

Am I going feral? I had to write an essay about parabolic and symbolic features in literature and since I have no self-preservation I made a comparison of Plague and Dead Poets Society based on main characters, motives, universal tropes and the overall concept of evil. The funnier thing is, I actually made it work and looking similar.

[literarylumin]

'It comes to this,' Tarrou said almost casually; 'what interests me is learning how to become a saint.'

'But you don't believe in God.'

'Exactly! Can one be a saint without God?—that's the problem, in fact the only problem, I'm up against today.'

- Albert Camus, The Plague

[so-na-gi]

I need to go to bed but this just came to me: @ fans of the terror , this might be a long shot but i think you'd enjoy camus's plague dynamics

[quicksilvergirl28]

I'm a Tarrieux defender until I die

Yes of course I read books for the deep philosophical meaning of it and I know that postmodernist novels are symbolic but holy shit is The Plague by Camus queer coded

[amphorographia]

Gonna need more fanfics of classic literature, please. Give me a Victor Frankenstein and Henry Clerval friends-to-lovers. Give me an Avdotya Raskolnikova character study. Give me an angsty follow-up on Dr Bernard Rieux as he lives with what he's seen and carries the weight of Tarrou and his wife's deaths. I am starved for fandom content.

I want to talk about and read about these characters and these stories but my only options are formal scholarship or video essays which, ok fine, but I want more

[defomin]

here's a list of all my favourite queer love couples I've came across from all types of mediums (update 240422)

The sign (series) Phaya and Tharn

Supernatural (series) Dean and Cas

Unknown (series) Qian and Yuan

Couple of mirrors (manhua) You-Yi and Wei

Only friends (series) Sand and Ray

Cupid's last wish (series) Korn and Win

Portrait of a lady on fire (movie 2019) Heloise and Marianne

Maurice (movie 1987) Maurice and Alec

Giovanni's room (book) Giovanni and David

Young royals (series) Wilhelm and Simon

Moonlight chicken (series) Jim and Wen

A tale of thousand stars (series) Phupha and Tian

Kiseki dear to me (series) ChenYi and AiDi

To sir, with love (series) Jiu and Tian

Song of Achilles (book) Achilles and Patroclus

Good Omens (series) Crowly and Aziraphale

Laws of attraction (series) Charn and Tinn

God's own country (movie 2017) Johnny and Gheorghe

Dead friend forever (series) Phee and Non

Thirty years old (manhua) Wei big bro and Ian

Thirty years old (manhua) QuiYi and YiCheng

Last twilight (series) Mhok and Day

Red white royal blue (book) Alex and Henry

Moonlight chicken (series) Alan and Gaipa

Semantic error (manhwa) Sangwoo and Jaeyoung

Semantic error (series) Sangwoo and Jaeyoung

The eclipse (series) Ayan and Akk

Moonlight (movie 2016) Chiron and Kevin

Yuri on Ice (anine) Victor and Yuri

19 days (manhua) Tian and Guan Shan

Only friends (series) Boston and Nick

Wolf in the house (manhwa) Minsuk and Bexan

Kinnporche (series) Kinn and Porsche

Mehr and Moshtari (poem) Mehr and Moshtari

My beautiful launderette (movie 1985) Johnny and Omar

Red white royal blue (movie 2023) Alex and Henry

Mignon (anime) Mignon and Young-one

Egoist (movie 2022) Kosuke and Ryuta

Manner of death (series) Tan and Bun

Brokeback mountain (movie 2005) Jack and Ennis

Gap (series) Sam and Mon

Kinnporche (series) Vegas and Pete

Dead friend forever (series) Tee and White

Pitbabe (series) Pete and Way

Moonlight chicken (series) Heart and Li-ming

The sign (series) Khem and Thongthai

The plague (book) Tarrou and Rieux (not canon, lol)

Kiseki dear to me (series) ZeRui and ZongYi

Pitbabe (series) Alan and Jeff

Laws of attraction (series) Thee and Thaenthai

Freefall (movie 2013) Kay and Marc

Pitbabe (series) Charlie and Babe

Carol (movie 2015) Carol and Therese

Doukyusei (anime) Kusakabe and Sajo

Couple of mirrors (series) You-Yi and Wei

Good Omens (series) Nina and Maggie

The eclipse (series) Khan and Thua

Call me by your name (movie 2017) Oliver and Elio

19 days (manhua) Jian Yi and Zheng Xi

The falls (trilogy) RJ and Chris

Supernatural (series) Claire and Kaia

Maurice (movie 1987) Maurice and Clive

Kinnporche (series) Time and Tay

Kinnporche (series) Kim and Porchay

Demian (book) Demian and Emil

Only friends (series) Top and Mew

The sign (series) Dao and Nee

Laws of attraction (series) Rose and Maya

Young royals (series) Stella and Fredrika

Only friends (series) April and Cheum

Manner of death (series) Sorn and That

History 4: close to you (series) Li Cheng and Mu Ren

[quicksilvergirl28]

Tarrou should have lived so he and Rieux could run off into the sunset together and move into a cottage and adopt a dog and have a small garden and set up a general practice clinic and–

[catcoffeeenjoyer]

Rieux’s design in one thing

but don’t forget the best character design in the whole manga

TIL there is a 2021 Japanese manga adaptation of Albert Camus' "The Plague", and the author (Ryota Kurumado) made Rieux look like THIS:

The same mangaka also adapted Camus' other famous book, The Stranger, in 2023.

Reminds me of when Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" got a (heavily abridged) manga adaptation in 2019 (by Hiromi Iwashita):

Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but I always feel like the "manga artstyle" in these makes for a very goofy combination with the subject matter. There's this incongruity in my head between the seedy, dour tone of the original books and the extremely clean, youthful look that mangaka tend to give their protagonists. (Forgive the overgeneralization - Japanese illustrators are not a monolith, I know, I know!)

Anyway, if anything, it's pretty nifty that these European literary classics are getting this sort of recognition in Japan. I may not personally vibe with the style, but I have to respect the effort; taking a book you like and bringing all of its scenes to life in a visual medium is no small feat.

(Still, I just cannot compute Rieux as this baby-faced teenager. At least the Crime and Punishment adaptation stuck to fairly realistic character proportions...)

[yurislava]

the tension between a specific type of no abilities older skk au who've been through decades of shit but are finally together and doctor rieux & tarrou is enormous

[pansnovidinnia]

idk check out my Jean Tarrou/Bernard Rieux gay ass fanfic 🎀

it was written in Ukrainian first and then translated

hope you enjoy ⭐

[epichunterka]

Neil Perry and Todd Anderson are as gay as Bernard Rieux and Jean Tarrou

[acknowledgetheabsurd]

"Once they were on the pier they saw the sea spread out before them, a gently heaving expanse of deep-piled velvet, supple and sleek as a creature of the wild. They sat down on a boulder facing the open. Slowly the waters rose and sank, and with their tranquil breathing sudden oily glints formed and flickered over the surface in a haze of broken lights. Before them the darkness stretched out into infinity. Rieux could feel under his hand the gnarled, weather-worn visage of the rocks, and a strange happiness possessed him. Turning to Tarrou, he caught a glimpse on his friend's face of the same happiness, a happiness that forgot nothing, not even murder."

Albert Camus, The Plague

[x]

[catcoffeeenjoyer]

A little talk about Cottard

The Plauge by Albert Camus is a story with six main characters - Doctor Bernard Rieux, Joseph Grand, Raymond Rambert, Jean Tarrou, Father Paneloux and Cottard. While I think all of them get their spotlight, and are perfectly executed in their stories, I feel like people tend to overlook Cottard - calling him a villan, the bad guy of the Plauge. And while yes, he isn't the most innocent, and never joins Tarrous sanitary volounteer groups, I wouldn't be ever able to call him a villan. I think he is more a tragedy, that is not harming anyone (until his last scene, but I will touch upon it later), just celebrating the sickness because... he is lonely.

Perhaps it would be better to introduce the guy a bit more here, huh? Cottard is a mystery at first - the protagonist meets him after his failed suicide attempt, due to help of Grand. Soon we also learn that he is terrified of the police:

"Rieux thought it would be wiser to prepare Cottard for the visit. When he entered the bedroom he found Cottard, who was wearing a gray flannel nightshirt, sitting up in bed and gazing at the door with a scared expression on his face. "It's the police, isn't it?" "Yes," Rieux said, "but don't get flustered. There are only some formalities to be gone through, and then you'll be left in peace." Cottard replied that all this was quite needless, to his thinking, and anyhow he didn't like the police. Rieux showed some irritation. "I don't love them either. It's only a matter of answering a few questions as briefly and correctly as you can, and then you'll be through with it." Cottard said nothing and Rieux began to move to the door. He had hardly taken a step when the little man called him back and, as soon as he was at the bedside, gripped his hands."

The story continues, the outbreak of the Plauge starts, everyone begins to panic... but Cottard. He seems happy. Instead of hiding in his house, fearing for his life, he begins to make new friends - starts talking to Grand more, sits in Caffes etc. Soon the book tells us a bit more about his life - he was in fact a criminal, running away constantly from the police, and as the Plauge begun, the police stopped looking for him. And that's the only reason why, correct? I mean is there a deeper meaning to why Cottard acts this way during the outbreak? Why he suddenly felt more comfortable with going outside?

The anwser is no, that's really not the only reason. What we should keep in mind is that Cottard before talked to no one, suspecting everyone of being able find somehow what he did, and hand him to the police.

Sometimes in the evening he would go to a movie across the way. In this connection Grand mentioned a detail he had noticed, that Cottard seemed to have a preference for gangster films. But the thing that had struck him most about the man was his aloofness, not to say his mistrust of everyone he met.

And then the Plauge happens. Everyone is terrified of what'll happen next day, if it won't strike them or their family, and if they'll be able to make it out alive. Obviously, police now has better things to do than look out for Cottard, but also he has people he can relate to now. He isn't alone in his fear of tommorow, I believe Tarrou points it out perfectly:

"He has an insight into the anomalies in the lives of the people here who, though they have an instinctive craving for human contacts, can't bring themselves to yield to it, because of the mistrust that keeps them apart. For it's common knowledge that you can't trust your neighbor; he may pass the disease to you without your knowing it, and take advantage of a moment of inadvertence on your part to infect you. When one has spent one's days, as Cottard has, seeing a possible police spy in everyone, even in persons he feels drawn to, it's easy to understand this reaction. (...) Or perhaps it should be put like this: fear seems to him more bearable under these conditions than it was when he had to bear its burden alone."

And it's not like Cottard has no empathy, he is happy about the Plauge, but he also shows happiness towards other peoples happiness (when not about ending of the Plauge)

Sometimes Tarrou and Cottard would follow for some minutes one of those amorous couples who in the past would have tried to hide the passion drawing them to each other, but now, pressed closely to each other's side, paraded the streets among the crowd, with the trancelike self-absorption of great lovers, oblivious of the people around them. Cottard watched them gloatingly. "Good work, my dears!" he'd exclaim. "Go to it!" Even his voice had changed, grown louder; as Tarrou wrote, he was "blossoming out" in the congenial atmosphere of mass excitement, fantastically large tips clinking on cafe tables, love-affairs shaping under his eyes.

Another thing why he is happier, is that during the Plauge he not only is not alone in his fear, but also manages to get some friends. He at first gets closer to Grand, inviting him for dinner, and just hanging around. He also has Rieux, who helped him, and from whom he gets informations about the Plauge. Then he befriends Rambert - the relationship is more of "Rambert needs someone to help him out, because Paris". But he still calls him friend, many times, and speaks with him even when he is not involved in the escape anymore. And lastly, and I'd argue most importantly, he has Tarrou. Tarrou is the only one who finds out about Cottards past, yet instead of holding it as an argument to get Cottard to help (as in "if you help me, I won't tell the police where you are"), he just says he knows that, and that he won't tell on him. And would you guess it, Cottard has a friend! At last! Someone he can confide in, someone who he feels safe around. He invites Tarrou out, and talks to him a lot.

The last scene of Tarrou and Cottard is most important I believe - We see Cottard being scared again, that he will now be caught, yet Tarrou tries to reasure him, he can start over now.

"So that's that," Tarrou smiled. "Quite likely things will pan out all right for you, too, who can say? It'll be a new life for all of us, in a manner of speaking." They were shaking hands at the door of the apartment house where Cottard lived. "Quite right!" Cottard was growing more and more excited. "That would be a great idea, starting again with a clean sheet."

And yet he grown paranoid again, since police seems to be looking for him again.

In his last scene, the man is everything but stable - it happens after Tarrou dies, and everyone begins to be happy again. He starts shooting at people from his house. Yet why? Because he wants them to fear. He doesn't want to be alone in his fear again - after all, the only person he trusted was dead. And at last, he gets caught.

I trully think his character is one of more tragic, and I probably could talk even more about him, but I'll leave at that.

He isn't a bad guy, nor is he a good guy. I'd say he is just a character - a tragic one at that.

[frankensteincest]

‘After all. . .?’ Tarrou prompted softly.

‘After all,’ the doctor repeated, then hesitated again, fixing his eyes on Tarrou, ‘it’s something that a man of your sort can understand most likely, but, since the world is shaped by death, mightn’t it be better for God if we refuse to believe in Him, and struggle with all our might against death, without raising our eyes towards the heaven where He sits in silence?’

Tarrou nodded.

‘Yes. But your victories will never be lasting; that’s all.’

Rieux’s face darkened.

‘Yes, I know that. But it’s no reason for giving up the struggle.’

‘No reason, I agree. . . . Only, I now can picture what this plague must mean for you.’

‘Yes. A never-ending defeat.’

ALBERT CAMUS, The Plague tr. Stuart Gilbert

[cveasie]

look, i dont follow "the plague" or "granica" tags for the quotes, i follow them for Zenon hate, for the homosexual tension between dr Rieux and Tarrou, for Elżbieta Biecka appreciation