Predicaments

As the quarantine of Oran shows no signs of ending, the people of Oran seem to be losing all hope of survival. The people seem to be losing all control and many violent incidents had broken loose,” some of our fellow citizens were losing their heads; there had already been some scenes of violence and nightly attempts were made to elude the sentries and escape to the outside world.” (105) These incidents even get so out of hand that attempts to escape are punishable by large amounts of jail time. Daily death reports as opposed to weekly are also not helping calm the people keep their heads cool. Even the man in front of Tarrou’s apartment has stopped coming outside because the cats he enjoyed spitting on had been shot for fear that they carried the plague. The people of Oran also remain uneasy because they seem to want someone else to take care of all their problems while they sit around and complain. Lastly, Rambert continues to represent the overall feelings of the people of Oran. Where he first was desperate to leave the city, convinced his case was unique and he should be allowed to leave, now he seems to have lost hope and looks for comfort around the city in things such as pictures of Paris, his hometown.