Grand // Haylee Lynd

 As I finish reading Part Four, I have no desire to discuss death or the sadness that one hour of true rest is all Tarrou and Rieux can afford nor do I wish to discuss the second sermon or the death of Othon's son. I want to talk only of my love for Grand. He disappears often throughout the narration. Something in me suspects he is the narrator but I ponder if the narrator would be someone the book refers to in third person. I simply am unsure. However, the is besides the point, Grand is such a small character and my sympathy for him is great. Camus paints such a picture of Grand crying to Rieux. It made me almost want to cry. Of course, the screaming of Othon's son as he died painted a very detailed picture of the disgusting and horrid nature of the plague, but that experience is unfamiliar to me entirely. It still makes the plague feel like this far off, unimaginable thing. The pain that Grand shows at the end of Part 4, and the love that I've developed him, feels familiar. We, as the reader, have primarily followed Rieux's journey through this book, and the doctor's love for Grand is evident. He is one of the few people Rieux confides in regarding his wife, and he helps how he can with Grand's book. Furthermore, he is the one who goes to Grand when they find him. This scene is intimate. The tears are real. Furthermore, the description of a man crying so many tears at this point in the book is so off from the almost lack of feeling and emotion the characters have been described feeling. My heart truly felt the impact of this scene, and I know in saying all this I am truly saying nothing, but it is hard to describe the feeling this scene invokes. Furthermore, to get this scene filled with so much emotion and then to see Grand recover is so relieving. So maybe here I will make a real point: The emotion is the first step towards normalcy. The healing is the second. Thus, the first glimpse of hope is not felt in the relief of Grand's recovery, but in the pain Grand expresses because until now, it has been largely absent from our main characters despite the absolute turmoil they are surrounded by. 

P.S. I commented on Emmet's and Emory's posts.