Part 1: Chapter 5 Summary

Rieux contemplates the unwillingness of human beings to accept the reality of a pestilence such as plague. He thinks about the history of the disease and its manifestations: "stupor, extreme prostration, buboes, intense thirst, delirium, dark blotches on the body, internal dilatation." He contrasts the tranquility of the cool spring day with pictures he has seen of other plagues in history that come to mind.

Part 1: Chapter 5 Analysis

The narrator is no longer objective. We are now inside the mind of one character—the doctor—and we know what he is thinking. Also, Camus has added another character—the plague itself. At the same time, he is adding another dimension to the setting by giving us the historical background of the plague, which will be a central player in this story.