the plague and dies. Jacques Othon: Philippe Othon is M. Othon's young son. When he contracts the plague, he is the first to receive Dr. Castel's antiplague serum. But the serum is ineffective, and the boy dies after a long and painful struggle. Mme. Rieux: Mme. Rieux is Dr. Rieux's mother, who comes to stay with him when his sick wife goes to the sanatorium. She is a serene woman who, after taking care of the housework, sits quietly in a chair. She says that at her age, there is nothing much left to fear. Dr. Richard: Dr. Richard is chairman of the Oran Medical Association. He is slow to recommend any action to combat the plague for fear of public alarm. He does not want even to admit that the disease is the plague, referring instead to a "special type of fever." M. Michel: M. Michel is the concierge of the building in which Rieux lives. An old man, he is the first victim of the plague. Raoul: Raoul is the man who agrees, for a fee of ten thousand francs, to arrange for Rambert to escape. He introduces Rambert to Gonzales. Gonzales: Gonzales is the smuggler who makes the arrangements for Rambert's escape and bonds with him over football. Asthma Patient: the asthma patient receives regular visits from Dr. Rieux. He is a seventy-five-year-old Spaniard with a rugged face, who comments on events in Oran that he hears about on the radio and in the newspapers. He sits in his bed all day and measures the passing of time by putting peas from one jug into another. Louis: Louis is one of the sentries who take part in the plan for Rambert to escape. Marcel: Marcel, Louis's brother, is also a sentry who is part of the escape plan for Rambert. Garcia: Garcia is a man who knows the group of smugglers in Oran. He introduces Rambert to Raoul. Plot summary The book begins with an epigraph quoting Daniel Defoe, author of A Journal of the Plague Year. Part one In the town of Oran, thousands of rats, initially unnoticed by the populace, begin to die in the streets. Hysteria develops soon afterward, causing the local newspapers to report the incident. Authorities responding to public pressure order the collection and cremation of the rats, unaware that the collection itself was the catalyst for the spread of the bubonic