The Anonymous Narrator and the King of Kings

The Plague's narrator is kept in anonymity until the finale of the novel. This raises questions for the reader (Well, the "modern" reader -- the one Camus wrote for, not the reader that Rieux wrote for). Why was the narrator kept anonymous? Does anything change now that we know the narrator was actually the main character? 

I personally see this as a message from Camus. It seems like he is trying to show that it doesn't actually matter who narrates this story. Of course, there is also the additional interpretation that Rieux wants to provide a reliable, unbiased account of the story, but this is too big of a reveal for that to be the only reason. I think what Camus is trying to get the reader to realize is that once a plague or any other disaster ends, those who tell the stories become nothing more than names on paper. Rieux and the other characters who lost loved ones in the story are "unreachable" in the sense that the reader has no true connection to them other than through Rieux. For us, the deaths are merely numbers and the narrator is nothing more than a voice that guides us through the event. The narrator could have been any other character, or even an omniscient 3rd-person narrator (Though that would change the whole structure of the novel), and we would have gotten the same "effect". By keeping Rieux's identity anonymous, Camus is mimicking the terrifying effect of time unto the reader. People are so willing to pretend like the plague had never happened and that the deaths of victims are just numbers. Even now, we are suffering because when the pandemic began, people were quick to deny it, and only when things got truly bad they acknowledged it -- But when it starts to go down just a little, people go right back to denying the potential of the virus. 

Imagine you had kept a diary of the effects of the pandemic on your life or a small community you were a part of. If you never revealed your identity to the reader, do you really think people 100 years in the future would care who wrote it? Do you think they could truly understand the pain of losing someone close to you or the foolish repetitive cycle of people denying the virus and ultimately spreading it further? I believe Camus brilliantly depicts the devastating, numbing effect that time has on one's identity, and it brings to mind a quote from Ozymandias:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The Sun Also Rises -- Uncertainty

 The ending of The Sun Also Rises seems to raise more questions than it answers. But is this necessarily a bad thing? What more is there to life than a series of chapters and reflections on those memories? I find the final interaction between Jake and Brett to be very illuminating of both their past and their future, and the idea of uncertainty/certainty becomes interesting when discussed in terms of their relationship. At the beginning, Brett and Jake were unable to be together. They were certain that they could not provide each other with enough of what the other needed, and they spent a significant amount of time in a futile search for something they couldn't have. This led to Brett's idealization of her relationship with a "healthy" Jake and Jake's inability to be in a real relationship with other women. Though they may have shared some affection or passion for each other, the physical injuries, which represent his "loss of masculinity" at war, make it so that Brett cannot give herself to Jake. Due to this feeling of inadequacy, Jake is hostile and intolerant of anything that resembles a threat to his remaining masculinity. This circumstance is symbolic to the tragic irony of soldiers entering war as a means to prove their masculinity (War being the most powerful figure of "Man"), but leaving as a shell of their former selves to be mocked and ostracized in the future. I believe that the scene towards the end of the novel with the bullfighters also represents this idea of soldiers returning from war. The legendary bullfighter tries and fails to overcome the expectations set up for him, and he is ultimately turned into a mockery of his former self. 

At the end of the novel, Brett and Jake have a conversation about what they could have been.

    "Oh, Jake," Brett said, "We could have had such a damned good time together."

    Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed                   suddenly pressing Brett against me. 

    "Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

Finally, their relationship is not based on what could have been. From this passage, I gather that Brett will probably still romanticize the relationship they may have had, but she has come to terms with the fact that Jake will not be what she believes to be "whole". However, because of Jake's injuries, he is the only one to truly be able to know Brett without lust being his primary motivator. They are now able to fantasize about the uncertainties of the past while being rooted in the certainties of their future.