The enigmatic Tarrou, a visitor in the mist, he was; "had a habit of observing events and people through the wrong end of the telescope."(Camus p.24) Being that he wasn't from Oran he clearly comes off as opinionated, in which, he forms a sort of diary with an intriguing fascination to the daily life of Oran and its citizens.

Unlike Tarrou, the people of Oran were merely creatures of habit, with no imagination or ambitions to relish on life, other than for "doing business." "The passions of the young are violent and short-lived; the vices of older men seldom range beyond an addiction to bowling, to banquets and "socials," or clubs where large sums change hands on the fall of a card."(Camus p.4) Tarrou all the while seems to revel in revealing the towns' ugliness, and is yet personally disturbed by the citizens' negligence not to...