Part 4: Chapter 3 Summary

Castel's anti-plague serum is available at last. M. Othon's little boy has fallen ill of the plague, and Rieux must quarantine the mother and the little girl in one hospital and the magistrate in a camp. The little boy is taken to Rieux's hospital where the doctor attends him and becomes convinced that the case is hopeless. He tests Castel's serum on him.

All the workers in Rieux's little army are in the room with the sick child watching his reaction to the serum. The only apparent difference as the result of the serum is the longer period of struggle against the disease. All are extremely shaken by the child's death, but Rieux more than any of the others. He and the priest talk about their own positions regarding the death of the child, Rieux angrily protesting that at least that...