The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate some seek blame and a few like Dr. Rieux resist the terror. An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947 "The Plague" is in part an allegory of France's suffering under the Nazi occupation and a story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.