Rambert as a Symbol of the Hopelessness of the Town

            Rambert, as previously described, is eager to get out of this plague-riddled town. He however, is far from the only one. It is observed that several attempts at escape are made nightly, and frequently end in capture and violence.

            His passion to escape Oran’s gates seems to cloud his reason; when told his case of separation from a loved one is not uncommon, he still persists that this fact makes his no more unimportant. He believes that his case, individually, is of the utmost importance – failing to understand that this plague has affected numerous people not simply him. However, after thorough investigations into possible means of escaping the town, he has finally accepted the fact that there is no way out. At this point in the story he falls to listlessness – the same form that has taken over the town, however his came to him later because he was so preoccupied with escape strategies. He takes to sitting in train stations. He does this not out of a hope that he can board a coming train and leave the town- for the trains have long ago been canceled- but in search of a mental escape from the town’s confines. While seated in the train station he would gaze upon the welcoming pictures of foreign places – particularly Paris, his hometown- places that he was prohibited from visiting. There, in that train station “these mental pictures killed all desire for any form of action” (110). The observation of the pictures helps make his forced residency in Oran bearable. However, in his observing these pictures and visiting the places vicariously through them, he in turn embodies the desolation of the townspeople. The situation has grown so bleak in the town that the people have given in completely to a feeling of hopeless imprisonment. These pictures do not serve as a motivation for a travel that they know is impossible- as they formerly did- but rather are sufficient to carry them, mentally, away from their plague-riddled town. As illustrated through Rambert, the residences of the town are so desperate for an escape – but realize they are so helplessly trapped- that even a simple picture can prove sufficient.