itself, when the French were subjected to several years' unending oppression - against which they were virtually helpless. Many collaborated. Most tried to simply survive as if nothing had changed. Some, like Camus, fought the status quo. Unlike those in post-War France who used the Resistance for propaganda purposes or political end, however, Camus had no illusions about how effective the Resistance was in terms of pushing out the German army from France. That feat was accomplished by forces outside the sphere of Resistance' endeavor; when the Allies decided to rescue France, it was a decision unrelated to any actions the Resistance fighters themselves employed. Given these circumstances, Camus knew that everyone in France would have their own particular justifications, their specific experiences, to color their reading of any story that touched upon War and Occupation issues. This is why he does not mention the War at all: to bring the War into his narrative would be to divert attention from the issues arising from it that he believes transcend the specifics of that event.
Returning to a recounting of the plot, The Plague begins with a deliberately anonymous narrator setting the stage of the following crisis. Oran is a typical North African colonial town, ugly and beautiful and middle-middle in every aspect of its existence. The narrator attempts to give a journalistic aura to his upcoming narrative, professing that he will only recount what he knows personally, or from the written notes of individuals with whom he has had contact. The number one individual he knows is Doctor Rieux, a physician who is not particularly extraordinary, but is in a position to recognize the early symptoms of the plague. As the novel progresses, Dr. Rieux will have a hand in helping the authorities to recognize its danger and draw up responses, and he will also combat the epidemic on a personal basis every waking hour of the day.
The Pl...