The Plague Notes | Objects/Places

Oran: A French port city on the Algerian coast, where the story takes place. Oran is a very ordinary city-some would even call it ugly-and its citizens are often described as living with too little imagination and too many habits. A massive plague epidemic descends on Oran and its gates are locked, imprisoning its citizens and sealing the city off from the outside world.

Rats: The first inhabitants of Oran to catch the plague are its rats. People in the city know something is wrong when thousands of rats die every day, so many that a special collection service has to drag away truckloads of them every morning.

Tarrou's diary: These are notebooks full of quirky observations that Tarrou kept while living in Oran. The Narrator uses many of the details in these notebooks to reconstruct the story he tells.

Grand's manuscript: The 'book' that Joseph Grand is working on. Grand is so obsessed with detail that after years of work, he's only completed the first sentence. Even that he's unhappy with.

Sanitary squads: Groups of citizens, organized by Tarrou, which volunteer their services to fight the plague.

Father Paneloux's sermons: Father Paneloux, a well-known priest in Oran, gives two sermons during the time of plague. The first, delivered when the outbreak just begins, is fiery and claims that the disease was sent by God to punish sinners. The second sermon, delivered after Paneloux witnesses the death of a young child, is far less vindictive.

the weather: The weather as reported in the chronicle often reflects the state of affairs in Oran. For example, it turns hot and unbearable and the disease spreads; it is cold and blustery on the day Paneloux gives his second sermon and the epidemic begins to recede.