The Plague Language and Communication Quotes Page 8
Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Stuart Gilbert's translation.
| Quote #22 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?
| Quote #23 "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).
| Quote #24 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.
