Although the issue of plague is in a sort dramatic, one can believe it was necessary for Mr. Camus to take human illness/death as a main theme in his story to show his opinion/point of view on our modern society. First of all, when we read the novel, we learn that the narrator is present in the story but chooses not to name himself (he later promises to

reveal his identity at the end of the novel) (Camus,4), one can

believe that Albert’s choice in not naming his character was to avoid biasness. As the reader progresses through the story, we are introduced to many different characters ; Dr Rieux himself for example. A honest and upright man with many good values. Dr
Rieux, who was the main character and protagonist of the story portrayed a kind/human friendly kind of character. As we read

from the story, “his professional struggle against death—the

doctor’s testimonial stance is, of necessity, at once one of

resistance (to the Plague) and one of preservation (of life, as

well as its memory): in much the sameway the physician wishes to

preserve life, the historian in Rieux wishes to preserve

events.” (Camus, 112) From this excerpt, Dr.Rieux in a way, has

the role of the town hero/saviour. Him along with Dr.Castel are

among the few characters not to suffer negatively from this

crisis and thanks to this, they avoid our critique of them

suffering from moral degeneration, but more precisely gain the

title of trying to prevent the moral decline of their community.

As we progress through the story, we are acquainted with the

presence of father Paneloux. Now father Paneloux is an

interesting character due to his view on the plague. Mr.

Paneloux viewing the plague as a judgement call thinks that

those who are hit by the terrible illness deserve to have it and

that it is in a way divine punishment for their sins (Lund,148).

Interestingly, Camus uses Paneloux as a figure of power.

Religion at this time(post world war 2 era) was still very

powerful. At this time, where the citizens of Oran were subject

to believe many bogus theories, father Paneloux took this

opportunity to inflict moral degeneration among his followers.

Encouraging anti-humanistic thoughts, father Paneloux did not in

any way contribute to the progress of their community. Now we

can compare this figure to many of our religious structures

today, being corrupted (NOT ALL OF THEM). As Giulina Lund tells

us in her article, “Of course, when referring literally to

disease, it is imperative to recognize that individuals are not

to blame for their illnesses; even in those cases when

behavioral modification might prevent infection, bacteria are

not agents of divine punishment, nor are symptoms the stigmata

of sin.” (147) We can deduct that father Paneloux was completely

wrong with his theory/attitude towards plague and he contributed

to the decline of the small town of Oran.

Proceeding along of the lines of the novel, we later meet

Raymond Rambert. Rambert, a French journalist temporarily

residing in Oran finds himself stuck in the quarantined village.

Although Raymond Rambert does not