Analysis Of Albert Camus ' The Plague Essay

Theoretically, it holds that the United States (US) invaded Afghanistan as a self-defense strategy following the 9/11 attacks. Practically, however, as US foreign policy is about conquest, self-protection and resource-extraction, it seeks strategic dominance of geographical space to sustain its global relevance. The rationality of the US suggests the need to continuously accumulate capital, resources and military proficiency to ensure autonomy. Therefore, a pragmatic reading into the motivation behind the invasion of Afghanistan negates the self-defense theory. Rather, the shifting coordinates of power within central and southern Asia crafted the perfect criteria for US intervention. This work explores the motivations and systemic cover-ups designed by the Bush administration in ordering military troops into Afghanistan in 2001. It will hold that this invasion was not just a War on Terror, but rather a tactic to ensure US prevalence within the region, and henceforth, the rest of the world. Thus, why did the US invade Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is a culture-rich land consisting of many ethnic tribes. The largest of these groups is the Pashtun tribe which constitutes an estimated 40% to 55% of Afghanistan’s total population. The third largest group in the country is the Hazara tribe which comprise between 15% of the population (Barfield 26). Historically, the Hazara people have been largely persecuted by other tribes in Afghanistan. In Martin Ewan’s book, Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics, he writes, “There has in the past been little love lost between [the Hazaras] and other Afghans, who despise them on both religious and racial grounds, while they themselves have a particular hatred

A source for queries is the fact that Hazaras are physically distinctive from the other ethnic groups in Afghanistan” (Justin, 159). “This distinctiveness has also had the effect of making it increasingly difficult for Hazaras to assimilate into majority cultures, either voluntarily or by force (Justin, 159).

The plague affected people not only on a physical level but a mental one as well. The mental health of the citizens of Oran was amongst the plague's many victims, it suffered of exhaustion as well as being forced to handle mental confrontations. When the citizens dealt with these issues, some people lost their capacity to love as intently, but overall the general capacity of people to uphold their devotion remained resilient to the challenges the plague provided.

A book of horrors, fear and death. “The Plague” is a book by Albert Camus which weaves these emotions and events into one suspenseful tale. Each paragraph and section is written and structured in such a way as to give the reader insight into the feelings of the victims of the plague, and to show somewhat of a theme. The passage from section 4, part 4, line number 1 to line number 35 gives us a glimpse of the melancholy of the people of Oran to their dead loved ones to the extent that they do not attend All Souls' Day, for they were thinking of them too much as it was. Albert Camus fills this passage with figurative devices, including, diction, personification, pathetic fallacy, metaphors, irony and a turning point. The first two paragraphs

The Plague, by Albert Camus, is a story following a man named Dr. Rieux living in the town of Oran on the coast of Algeria, which was a French owned territory in Africa. In this town, a plague begins, similar to that of the Bubonic plague in Europe, and the town is quarantined. The story shows how the residents cope and try to create a cure while surrounded by dying people and a lack of supplies and entertainment. In this novel, he uses the format of a Shakespearean play, with five acts and from the point of view of an audience looking in, rather than from a first-person view. He also points to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus goes against all odds to the underworld to rescue his love, Eurydice, who was taken from him by

The sanitation of Oran is a significant problem in The Plague. Camus portrays the sanitation of the city as being very deficient in the novel where it is mentioned, “The sanitary department is inefficient, understaffed, for one thing, and you're worked off your feet” (Camus 61). Although there were sanitary services present, they encompassed a poor image, so the townspeople started forming their own voluntary “sanitation squads” (Camus 65) to help clean the city. It is mentioned in the novel that there is a notice outlining a general sanitation program that the authorities have drawn up. It includes a systematic extermination of the rat population by injecting poison gas into the sewers, and a strict supervision of the water-supply. The claim made in Camus’ novel of inferior sanitation of the streets is not the central problem faced in Algeria. The prevalent sanitation problem faced by a vast population of Algeria is their water sanitation. Camus mentions the unsanitary water supply, but bases a larger concern for the cleanliness of the streets. The concern for sanitary water is much greater in the authentic Algerian culture and the government has implemented various programs to conduct sanitary practices in the effort of getting clean water. In addition to sanitary programs being implemented, various sanitation strategy studies have been finalized through the Algerian efforts (“Algeria-Water”). The medical treatment practices conveyed through the novel were also conflicting to the authentic culture.

For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man

With the tales of these three individuals told, it is hard not to feel a sense of pity and uncertainty about Afghanistan and especially the United States’ role in Afghanistan. With the consensus of entering Afghanistan originally being to stop terrorism, throughout Gopal’s book it seems that the goal, or better yet, the idea of wiping terrorism away had certainly been lost. No longer does it seem that the United States is helping, rather that the U.S. is one of the main problems in the country. The details and facts listed in the book open a

Afghanistan has been for years a country struggling with authority issues. These struggles date back to the 16th century of the Mughal Empire and continues with the Taliban today. These historic struggles are responsible of the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of our world. There have been many attempts from other groups to try and “conquer” the land but

In 1978, a communist government gained control of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union supported the new government, but the unrest of Afghan citizens with this regime was so great it prompted a “Jihad” or holy war(Jacobson, 31).

As America find herself in today’s “War on Terrorism,” one can easily find a number of similarities between today’s situation and the war in Vietnam. As the Taliban steadily loses control and power over Afghanistan, it becomes exceedingly important to discuss potential replacement governments. Afghanistan is, like Vietnam in the 50’s and 60’s, a very volatile country full of a variety of people speaking different dialects and practicing different religions. It is very important, then, that the government that is installed is one that is capable of maintaining some type of control or authority over its diverse people.

Social and ethnic tensions: The Kite Runner allows us a look at Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion and then after.

447). This only goes on to administer Gorbachev’s ongoing practice of openness, as he further explains that the only ones that gain from the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan are those expecting to exploit the misfortunes of others. By ridding Soviet support of the Afghan war, it also helps support the ideals of the disarmament and negotiations related to the elimination of intermediate and short range missiles. He closes by saying that states have sufficient reserves of responsibility, political will and determination to put an end to regional conflict (Doc 82, pg. 448). Outlining the importance of reform within the afghan war, it shows strong similarities of the changing reform that has now been an ongoing implementation within the Soviet Union as

Socrates, a Greek philosopher, once said that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology 38b). Like Socrates, Albert Camus believed that a man needs to live meaningfully.