... like the problem man faces in life, one continual uphill struggle. The comparison in La Peste is Rieux. The plague is the boulder and Rieux is pushing it, constantly battling against the plague and yet seemingly getting nowhere. In La Peste, as in many of his other works, Camus shows a strong preoccupation with death. Indeed his works have been described as "le monde du condamnes a mort". Death is prevalent throughout La Peste and can strike at anytime and completely at random. The plague is not selective, it kills men, women and children. The death of Dr. Richard is told in indifferent terms, he is simply "enleve par la peste", helping to point out that one day you can be alive and the next day you're gone, it's as simple as that. The metaphysical aspect of death is that it can't be changed, man doesn't have a say in the ...

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