In today’s pages we see a lovely scene of friendship between Rieux and Tarrou; the two go for a moonlit swim together, a moment of joy in the midst of plague. Tarrou explains his philosophy to Rieux – his steadfast striving to not “become a plague victim,” that is, the metaphorical plague of causing death to others through your actions. “‘What is natural is the microbe. The rest – health, integrity, purity, if you like – are an effect of will and a will that should never relax.'” When asked “the road that one should follow to arrive at peace,” Tarrou responds: “‘sympathy.” 

FOR TOMORROW: Next 7 pages, to the end of the paragraph that begins “The population lived in this secret” in the first section of Part V.