SUMMARY: PART 1 The first part of The Plague, by Albert Camus, begins in
describing the large French port called Oran which is on the Algerian coast of
Africa. The smug town is inhibited by people largely concerned with business.
The normal flow of the town is abruptly interrupted by thousands of rats coming
out of the sewers and dying. The concerned town people are delighted to find an
end to the disgusting rats, but are then faced with a more severer problem. A
fatal fever has swept the town. It takes government officials quite a while, but
a state of plague is proclaimed. A doctor by the name of Dr. Bernard Rieux, who
was recently separated from his wife due to another illness, has taken on the
task of treating the plague.
SUMMARY: PART 2 In part two of The Plague, the town of Oran is taken over by
the illness. Everything is different now that Oran can't interact with the rest
of the world. The town was put into exile. Auxiliary hospitals are opened to
hold all the victims of the plague. The death toll rises from 302 deaths a week
to 137 deaths a day. Many people lose close ones who have fallen from the
plague. A somber tone has taken over the town. No one smiles anymore. Dr. Rieux
continues with his work, but finds it hard when supplies run short. After a much
respected Catholic priest gives a sermon blaming the plague as a punishment for
the people's sins, a man named Tarrou starts work to try to aid the government
in dealing with the destruction. Tarrou forms sanitary squads, with volunteers
as workers. The hot summer weather scorches Oran and inhabitants fond it hard to
cope. Many manage by going to cafes for alcohol. Security must be heightened
since many are trying to escape the plague.
SUMMARY: PART 3 In part three of The Plague, conditions in Oran get
considerably worse. The summer heat is still unbearable, and the lack of rain
brings clouds of dust over the town. As the number of victims from the plague
increase, the room for the bodies decreases. Soon the number of coffins is
insufficient as well as burial-places. When this occurs the government first
begins burying mass bodies in large ditches, covering each layer with quicklime
and soil. Later the authorities decide to make use of the crematorium and
streetcars which haven't been working since exile. They put the deceased into
the cars and bring them to be burned. The number of public servants helping with
the plague also becomes low. Although, since others were losing their office
jobs, they soon replaced the lost workers. Some jobs besides the sanitary squads
were grave diggers and stretcher-bearers. Time in Oran Has seemingly stopped.
Inhabitants that previously were only concerned with their own problems of being
secluded from loved ones, now realize they are in the same boat as everyone
else. When a curfew is enforced to lower crimes such as the burning of houses
and escapes, Oran seems lifeless at night. The plague is killing the town.
