The Plague

A detailed Summary of The Plague


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.

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 wo


In part four of The Plague, conditions are still awful in Oran. Dr. Rieux is working harder than ever. He gets only four hours of sleep, and he and his fellow workers are always exhausted. When someone is diagnosed with the plague, they usually always die, so Dr. Rieux's job has changed from curing people to diagnosing them. Oran's inhabitants are getting restless. Numerous riots and various crimes occur daily. Although the number of deaths were no longer increasing many people close to Dr. Rieux died. After delivering a second, less hostile sermon, Father Paneloux came down with the plague. Another doctor that worked with Dr. Rieux, named Dr. Richard, died as well. A horrible death from the plague was a son of a magistrate. He was given an experimental serum that cured later patients, but just prolonged his suffering. That serum, was acclaimed as the reason for the decrease of deaths. Also the serum was accounted for the strange cases where people recovered from the plague. One positive occurrence at the end of part four was the appearance of rats again. They were healthy and running around. That's a good sign for the end of the epidemic.



Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1795
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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