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| Divisions, Decency and ‘The Plague’ | Divisions, Decency and ‘The Plague’ |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. | The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. |
| There’s a point early on in “The Plague” when a journalist stuck in the sickened city of Oran tries desperately to get out — beyond the walls, to the rest of healthy, happy French Algeria. | There’s a point early on in “The Plague” when a journalist stuck in the sickened city of Oran tries desperately to get out — beyond the walls, to the rest of healthy, happy French Algeria. |
| It’s meant to be for love. Raymond Rambert, the would-be escapee in Albert Camus’s 1947 novel, is eager to reach the woman he intends to marry. | It’s meant to be for love. Raymond Rambert, the would-be escapee in Albert Camus’s 1947 novel, is eager to reach the woman he intends to marry. |
| But I found myself recalling the scene last week because it reminded me of the divide that pandemics create between places and people, and the enormous difference between life inside with the contagion and life beyond, in someplace that feels almost normal. | But I found myself recalling the scene last week because it reminded me of the divide that pandemics create between places and people, and the enormous difference between life inside with the contagion and life beyond, in someplace that feels almost normal. |
| At the time, I was catching up on news of the surging coronavirus outbreak in Victoria while enjoying a gourmet lunch in northern New South Wales after stopping at a busy local bookstore. It felt odd and, if I’m honest, exhilarating, to be enjoying such luxuries. The tables in the restaurant, Shelter in Lennox Head, were far enough apart to feel safe but not so distant to feel abnormal. The food was great. The bookstore, too, felt almost pre-pandemic. | At the time, I was catching up on news of the surging coronavirus outbreak in Victoria while enjoying a gourmet lunch in northern New South Wales after stopping at a busy local bookstore. It felt odd and, if I’m honest, exhilarating, to be enjoying such luxuries. The tables in the restaurant, Shelter in Lennox Head, were far enough apart to feel safe but not so distant to feel abnormal. The food was great. The bookstore, too, felt almost pre-pandemic. |
| Our family of four felt as though we had escaped to the other side, and in many ways we had, especially compared to our loved ones in the United States. I recently talked to a friend in South Carolina who told me he had been in isolation for 110 days and spoken to only five people in that time who were not members of his family. | Our family of four felt as though we had escaped to the other side, and in many ways we had, especially compared to our loved ones in the United States. I recently talked to a friend in South Carolina who told me he had been in isolation for 110 days and spoken to only five people in that time who were not members of his family. |
| And yet, even for the lucky ones, it all feels so fragile. The difference between the imaginary world of Camus and our very real world today is that the virus is not — and may never be — truly contained. Our societies are porous. Our lives are networked and global. | And yet, even for the lucky ones, it all feels so fragile. The difference between the imaginary world of Camus and our very real world today is that the virus is not — and may never be — truly contained. Our societies are porous. Our lives are networked and global. |
| So in the bookstore, the clerk, when she heard our American accents, told us that she had Australian friends who were forced to leave the U.S. because the Trump administration — its anti-immigration urges empowered by the pandemic — had canceled their visas. | So in the bookstore, the clerk, when she heard our American accents, told us that she had Australian friends who were forced to leave the U.S. because the Trump administration — its anti-immigration urges empowered by the pandemic — had canceled their visas. |
| At the restaurant, one of the owners told me that while they were doing well there, he had to close another restaurant he had opened only recently. “The places that are not well established, they’re not going to make it,” he said. | At the restaurant, one of the owners told me that while they were doing well there, he had to close another restaurant he had opened only recently. “The places that are not well established, they’re not going to make it,” he said. |
| Another divide, another wall: between the businesses that survive and those that do not; between those with work and those without. | Another divide, another wall: between the businesses that survive and those that do not; between those with work and those without. |
| What should we do and how should we feel about the uneven distribution of pandemic consequences? | What should we do and how should we feel about the uneven distribution of pandemic consequences? |
| This, it seems to me, is a question that we’ll be grappling with for a while. The Australian government’s adjustments to the JobKeeper program this week, extending wage subsidies into next year but curtailing the amounts, signals that officials have begun to recognize what it took the residents of Oran a long time to accept — that pestilence requires endurance. | This, it seems to me, is a question that we’ll be grappling with for a while. The Australian government’s adjustments to the JobKeeper program this week, extending wage subsidies into next year but curtailing the amounts, signals that officials have begun to recognize what it took the residents of Oran a long time to accept — that pestilence requires endurance. |
| Here’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison: “The virus will plot its own course.” | Here’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison: “The virus will plot its own course.” |
| Here’s Camus: “The preceding months, though they had increased the desire for liberation, had also taught them to count less and less on a rapid end to the epidemic.” | Here’s Camus: “The preceding months, though they had increased the desire for liberation, had also taught them to count less and less on a rapid end to the epidemic.” |
| In this middle moment between initial infection and final eradication — the very lengthy moment “The Plague” focused on — Camus’s characters prioritized perseverance and small acts of kindness. Flipping back through the book as I wrote this, the power of consistency re-emerged. Dr. Bernard Rieux, “struggling against the world as it was,” provided both treatment for the sick and an ear for the struggles of the anxious. | In this middle moment between initial infection and final eradication — the very lengthy moment “The Plague” focused on — Camus’s characters prioritized perseverance and small acts of kindness. Flipping back through the book as I wrote this, the power of consistency re-emerged. Dr. Bernard Rieux, “struggling against the world as it was,” provided both treatment for the sick and an ear for the struggles of the anxious. |
| He was a hero of small things, a hero of careful carrying on. Perhaps that’s what we all need to aim for as well. | He was a hero of small things, a hero of careful carrying on. Perhaps that’s what we all need to aim for as well. |
| Updated August 4, 2020 | |
| “The decent man,” Camus wrote, “the one who doesn’t infect anybody, is the one who concentrates most.” | “The decent man,” Camus wrote, “the one who doesn’t infect anybody, is the one who concentrates most.” |
| What are you reading for insight on the pandemic? Tell us at nytaustralia@nytimes.com. Our Book Review editors also have a few suggestions: nonfiction and fiction. | What are you reading for insight on the pandemic? Tell us at nytaustralia@nytimes.com. Our Book Review editors also have a few suggestions: nonfiction and fiction. |
| Now here are our stories of the week. | Now here are our stories of the week. |
| No One Knows What Thailand Is Doing Right, but So Far, It’s Working: Can the country’s low rate of coronavirus infections be attributed to culture? Genetics? Face masks? Or a combination of all three? | No One Knows What Thailand Is Doing Right, but So Far, It’s Working: Can the country’s low rate of coronavirus infections be attributed to culture? Genetics? Face masks? Or a combination of all three? |
| Can You Get Covid-19 Again? It’s Very Unlikely: Reports of reinfection instead may be cases of drawn-out illness. A decline in antibodies is normal after a few weeks, and people are protected from the coronavirus in other ways. | Can You Get Covid-19 Again? It’s Very Unlikely: Reports of reinfection instead may be cases of drawn-out illness. A decline in antibodies is normal after a few weeks, and people are protected from the coronavirus in other ways. |
| 7 Podcasts to Lighten the Mood: With TV production mostly on pause and comedy clubs off-limits because of the pandemic, check out these podcasts for some much-needed comic relief. | 7 Podcasts to Lighten the Mood: With TV production mostly on pause and comedy clubs off-limits because of the pandemic, check out these podcasts for some much-needed comic relief. |
| Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker: Researchers around the world are developing more than 165 vaccines against the coronavirus, and 27 vaccines are in human trials. Let us help you keep up with the latest developments. | Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker: Researchers around the world are developing more than 165 vaccines against the coronavirus, and 27 vaccines are in human trials. Let us help you keep up with the latest developments. |
| Australian Student Sues Government Over Financial Risks of Climate Change: A 23-year-old law student filed a class-action suit accusing Australia of failing to disclose financial risks from climate change. Experts say it is the first of its kind. | Australian Student Sues Government Over Financial Risks of Climate Change: A 23-year-old law student filed a class-action suit accusing Australia of failing to disclose financial risks from climate change. Experts say it is the first of its kind. |
| In ‘Intimations,’ Zadie Smith Applies Her Even Temper to Tumultuous Times: This short essay collection includes Smith’s recent thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic, race relations in America and other subjects. | In ‘Intimations,’ Zadie Smith Applies Her Even Temper to Tumultuous Times: This short essay collection includes Smith’s recent thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic, race relations in America and other subjects. |
| Learning From the Kariba Dam: Climate change and neglect have brought the mammoth structure at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe to the brink of calamity — a crisis prefigured in the dam’s troubling colonial history. | Learning From the Kariba Dam: Climate change and neglect have brought the mammoth structure at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe to the brink of calamity — a crisis prefigured in the dam’s troubling colonial history. |
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