As the citizens lose hope, a small band of volunteers valiantly attempts to hold the line by helping others. The book follows a city's struggle to maintain order and civility during an outbreak of the bubonic plague. Thus, in a middle course between these heights and depths, they drifted through life rather than lived, the prey of aimless days and sterile memories, like wandering shadows that could have acquired substance only by consenting to root themselves in the solid earth of their distress. The Plague (1947) is a philosophical novel by French-Algerian author Albert Camus (1913-1960).

For, while averting that revulsion which they found so unbearable, they also deprived themselves of those redeeming moments, frequent enough when all is told, when by conjuring up pictures of a reunion to be, they could forget about the plague. The Plague study guide contains a biography of Albert Camus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. But Camus’ plague was a stand-in for more than fascism. But, naturally enough, this prudence, this habit of feinting with their predicament and refusing to put up a fight, was ill rewarded. Therefore they forced themselves never to think about the problematic day of escape, to cease looking to the future, and always to keep, so to speak, their eyes fixed on the ground at their feet. Bernard Rieux is the first to intuit that things are not right with the city when he notices a sudden spike in the number of dead rats around town.

“At such moments the collapse of their courage, willpower, and endurance was so abrupt that they felt they could never drag themselves out of the pit of despond into which they had fallen. The Plague by Albert Camus Buy Study Guide The Plague Summary It is the 1940s in Oran, a French-occupied Algerian colony.

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