The Plague is an exploration of caricatures and how they respond in desperate situations. Albert Camus does this by putting multiple characters in the same situation, the controlled variable, but changing the philosophies that each represents, the manipulated variable. This experiment judges each caricature's philosophical tenacity through adversity. Specifically, Camus examines the tenacity of existentialism with respect to religion. To deal with the plague, Doctor Rieux and Father Paneloux both create purposes based on their beliefs, abilities, and society's needs; however, their conflicting ideologies ultimately determine which caricatures survive philosophically. In The Plague, Camus develops the idea that in desperate situations, individuals will create a purpose for themselves based on their philosophies: those with philosophies that are solely dependent on the individual and separated from the higher power survive philosophically; in contrast, individuals with philosophies dependent on a higher power will have their beliefs destroyed by adversity and will not survive philosophically. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To philosophically survive the plague, caricatures must develop a purpose for themselves based on their niches and beliefs. Both Father Paneloux and Doctor Rieux do this. Paneloux, a respected Jesuit priest from Oran, provides sermons to give the plague a purpose for the citizens: the plague is a test and punishment from God, and he will spare the faithful and kill sinners. At first, the sermons and the Week of Prayer attract a lot of people because many of these people would ask, “Why us?” or “Why is this happening?” during this adversity. Paneloux assigns a function to the plague and provides the audience with guidance on how to survive the plague. By practicing Christian virtues and repenting of sins, this gives some citizens hope to survive the plague and purpose. Furthermore, Paneloux involves and unites citizens in the activity to survive the monotony of a quarantined city with the Week of Prayer. At the onset of the plague, Paneloux's philosophical beliefs help him and the citizens manage the plague by providing purpose, hope, and unity. However, unity according to Paneloux's philosophy is only effective on the surface. Since many citizens are not religious and participation in sermons has been met with an attitude of "Anyway, it can do no harm" (89), the hope and purpose provided by Paneloux resonates only with some and the unity lasts temporarily , becoming annoyed as the plague times worsen and the reality that the plague is here to stay settles into the city. At the height of the plague with extreme summer heat, strong winds, and fires set by man in a desperate attempt to destroy the infection, the city “retained the attitude of sadness and suffering, but they had stopped feeling the bite” (175) . At this point, citizens retained a hopeless "habit of desperation" (175), submitting to separation from loved ones, the monotony of a quarantined city, fear of the plague, and daily deaths. According to Paneloux's last sermon, there is only one group of men in the church and the crowds attracted by the Week of Prayer have left. Paneloux's philosophical purpose assists the city only temporarily and superficially, until he experiences the worst hardship, a direct reflection of how his philosophies assist him only until he experiences the worst hardship. Rieux's purpose contrasts with Paneloux's in both ideology and effectiveness. With the help of his friends, Rieux uses his medical skills to helpsick, and the group organizes and creates health teams to practically deal with the plague, attempting to bring order using a systematic approach to prevent the spread of the disease, help the plague-stricken, and deal with the dead. Furthermore, this order imposed by Rieux and his friends is a fight against the disorder of the plague. Rieux's niche and the purpose it creates encourages others to fight back by participating in health groups: "These groups enable [the] citizens to deal with the disease and convince them that, now that the plague was among [them], it was up to them react” (128). Furthermore, the groups unite the citizens, demonstrating that since it is “the duty of some men” (128) to react, it is “everyone's concern” (128). reflects his philosophy and personality: he approaches his life objectively and is an atheist because he thinks logically, the existence of a God is invalid considering the amount of suffering he has seen as a doctor. While Paneloux uses his ideology and the his niche to superficially help citizens in the beginning, Rieux's niche effectively helps citizens during the plague Rieux provides an objective solution and purpose to the health groups, helping the city come to terms with the fact that the plague is here. to stay, and therefore citizens should fight disorder with order. This purpose pleases most; fights against monotony and desperation in a realistic way. On the other hand, Paneloux's ideology is not so attractive to the majority, and the temporary unity it provides disappears at the worst times. Being a controlled variable, Paneloux and Rieux are similar in the rigidity of their philosophies. When Paneloux experiences the suffering of Mr. Othon's son, he pleads, "My God, spare this child...!" (206), but the child dies in pain. He later reflects on the child's death: “This kind of thing is revolting because it is beyond our human understanding. But perhaps we should love what we cannot understand” (208). In this reflection, he essentially states that individuals should love the suffering of a child, because we cannot understand it; a grotesque and immoral statement. His unyielding beliefs push Paneloux to go to extremes to justify why God would allow such suffering to happen. Paneloux fails to understand this and, in his last sermon, argues that because of the incomprehensible injustice of a child's suffering, one must choose to believe in God completely or not at all, underlining that one must believe in God completely. This in attempt to philosophically justify the child's suffering to himself, underlining its rigidity. Instead of losing his faith, Paneloux “agrees to have his eyes destroyed” (219). Rieux is a rigid character, and this is reflected in his attitude towards his beliefs. Camus shows this through Rambert's reaction to Rieux's coldness: “You are using the language of reason, not that of the heart; you live in a world of…of abstractions” (82). Furthermore, his rigidity is reflected in the smallest idiosyncrasies: “When he crosses a street he steps off the sidewalk without changing his pace” (27). This detail shows Rieux's predominant attitude: once he sets his mind to something, he carries it out tenaciously until the end. Rieux's indifference appears almost superhuman, as can be seen when he reacts insensitively after receiving the telegram of his wife's death. He reflects that “this suffering was nothing new. For many months…it was the same suffering that went on and on” (281). Rieux's cold, calculating and rigid character is reflected in his philosophy and his medical aim: even if suffering and death are inevitable, individuals.