Chapter Third Part of The Plague - Study Guide by Albert Camus

Third Part

The feeling of living out an individual fate or destiny disappears. The plague is a collective story. Wind follows the heat. The areas in the centre are affected by the epidemic; convents and prisons are ravaged. Townspeople burn their houses, and pillage others. The curfew ensures the city is dead at nighttime. Burials take place without ceremony, until finally they are led on tramways to be cremated. The plague does not create heroes but men less and less capable of being resistant. Separated lovers no longer have the force to think of their loved one. The plague imposes its monotonous order. Without memories or projects, the townspeople live in a pure present, monotonous and mechanical. A uniform existence is imposed on everyone. A couple of flings do not succeed in filling the emptiness of hearts.