The plague, though not unfamiliar to most in a historical sense, is brought about in a much more personal light in Albert Camus’ The Plague. Through narration by Dr. Rieux, we watch the personal growth of a character trapped in a town where reality has been sacrificed for survival. But because of his self-sacrifice, determination, dedication to his patients and to all citizens in the town, and through the shared experiences of his friends, we …showed first 75 words of 1036 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1036 total…an afterthought. He describes his devotion to his love as one that “the plague months had slowly refined to a pale abstraction” (294). Rieux is able to take all of these experiences and see them for what they are, an enlightenment. For to know the plague and remember it, to know friendship and remember it, and to know affection and to be destined one day to remember it is a far better prize than survival itself (291).