Seen in the previous section of the novel Rambert was frantic to escape the confines of the town, supposedly under the pretense of reuniting with a lover in Paris. However, after being stood up by the men who were supposed to help him escape, Rambert seems to loose all hope. He, finally, has managed to get it into his stubborn head that the plague is a terrifying force to recon with. No one wants to be held accountable for its possible spread by helping him leave. Ironically, he things that while he has had an epiphany Rieux – who works with the plague every day – is blind to the truth it presents; as seen when he asks Rieux if “you haven’t understood yet?” (161). The understanding Rambert is citing is the understanding that the plague has thrown the town into a terrifying cycle of death, one from which everyone is unable to escape a cycle that Rambert describes as being “the same thing over and over and over again” (161). While this new outlook of Rambert’s is far more enlightened than his previous thought set, he remains pessimistic. He lacks the hope that Tarrou and Rieux are forced to have – as a result of dealing with such misery on a daily basis – the hope that the cycle will end and the plague will finally release its grip on the town. Rambert goes so far in his pessimism to comments of martyrdom, in which he claims that man has nothing to live for but love – of which many have lost the capacity. He seems somewhat suicidal in this comment, however he moves on with his thoughts to volunteer for the sanitation squad. However, this, in itself, may be a suicidal act on his part – agreeing to work hands on on with the plague he had previously worked so hard to avoid.
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