Sketchy...

Cottard was first introduced to the reader when he tried to hang himself. Later, when he was acting strangely: he was normally a reserved individual – rarely seen with company. However, after the hanging incident he was seen trying to get the whole population of the town to like him. As a reader I believed that he was trying to amount a number of character witnesses, pointing at the fact that he may be guilty of a crime. A crime so bad that he would be willing to hang himself to escape sentencing. However, as soon as the plague struck, his attitude, again, started to change. His attitude returned to its original state – all previous masquerades forgotten. Previously, the narration was so focused on the suffering of the town Cottard was not a central focus. In this part of the novel, however, he is. He has returned to his own, selfish habits. He no longer seems to care how many people like him (inferred by his disinterest in joining the sanitary squads, a status that would have gained him favor amongst the general population). He comments on how the “plague suits [him] quite well and [he] has no reason why [he] should bother trying to stop it” (158). He likes the plague because, as a result of it throwing the town’s police force into extreme disarray, he was never charged for the crime he thought he was going to be convicted of when he attempted to hang himself. Rieux and Tarrou both manage to reach the conclusion that he is a criminal based on his feelings towards the plague, however his crime still remains a mystery… Further adding to the feel of “sketchiness” associated with Cottard.