The Fighting Man

It is said that the people of Oran have been "working themselves almost to a standstill" (190). They don't even take time to read newspapers or inform themselves on what is happening around the town anymore. It is interesting that still the only thing that interests the people is any rumor of some sort of cure for the plague, but since they have been stuck in this situation for so long and they are already so accustomed to false rumors the people only get slightly interested these stories. When it comes back to be false hope it no longer effects the people, they just brush it off and continue with their lives. The narrator describes these people as "worn out by the incessant strain and mindful only of the duties assigned to him, [and] has ceased to hope" (190). This simply shows how people have gone from a mentality of wanting to go back to their normal lives, to the point where they simply have accepted that this is their new life and there is nothing that they can do about it. Lastly, as time progresses one would imagine that at least there would be some idea of where this plague is going, but it is obvious that that is not true and no one seems to know if the plague is even getting worse or better.