Jan 3, 2010

The Plague | Characters

Critics have different perceptions of the characters in The Plague. O'Brien limits them to three: the plague, the city, and the narrator. Others see them as stereotypes in a kind of morality play. None is Camus, but all are a part of him. All are dominated by one passion, which is their attitude toward the plague. Although the accusation that he created shadowy figures and symbols may be true, Camus has the talent to portray a person in a few lines, often in a few words.

Rambert, the journalist who is caught in Oran by accident, is separated by the irony of fate from the...