The Plague Language and Communication Quotes
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Stuart Gilbert's translation.
Even the small satisfaction of writing letters was denied us. It came to this: not only had the town ceased to be in touch with the rest of the world by normal means of communication, but also—according to a second notification—all correspondence was forbidden, to obviate the risk of letters’ carrying infection outside the town. (2.1.3)
The plague cuts off communication via letters, but how effective was communication to begin with, before the plague came to town?
"While we loved each other we didn’t need words to make ourselves understood. But people don’t love forever. A time came when I should have found the words to keep her with me—only I couldn’t." (2.2.18)
Words are needed for understanding, yet words are limited. Sounds like we’re all isolated as individuals without a real ability to connect, subject-to-subject, with anyone else (paging Sartre).
All he gathered was that the work he was engaged on ran to a great many pages, and he was at almost excruciating pains to bring it to perfection. "Evenings, whole weeks, spent on one word, just think! Sometimes on a mere conjunction!" (2.4.23)
Grand obsesses over picking the right words for his literary masterpiece when ironically, there are no right words.