Repetition

Throughout the novel thus far the author repeatedly fixated over the effect the plague is having on the town. I wouldn’t mind this, except for the fact that the reflections are always the same; everyone feels trapped by the plague and misses their loved one. It seems, since about page 100, that the author has run out of things to say so he keeps repeating himself. The action that drove the plot forward was the town’s contraction of the plague and the main character’s reactions to it.  Rieux stepped “up to the plate” and worked overtime trying to save as many people as possible. Rambert tried to escape but eventually came around and Tarrou, previously seen as contemplative and introverted started the sanitation squads. However, since these actions the progression of the novel appears to have come to a grinding halt. The narrator switches between describing things that the original author (because this is a translation) observed and a string of details about the plague’s effect on the town. These details are always the same; people feel hopeless and the ones separated from their loved ones are falling into despair.  A gradual progression can be seen as the town slowly drifts more and more into hopelessness as the plague continues to run its course – however, listening to the author detail this gradual progression over a span of 200 pages to me is the equivalent of watching paint dry.