Since the exile lasted for so long, the people lost their selfish obsession with personal suffering. They came to view the plague as a disaster that was everybody's concern, and many confronted their social responsibility and joined the anti-plague efforts. When M. Othon's son suffered a prolonged, excruciating death from the plague, Dr. Rieux shouts at Paneloux that he was an innocent victim. Paneloux, deeply shaken by the boy's death, delivered a second sermon that modified the first. He declared that the inexplicable deaths of innocent people forced the Christian people to choose between believing everything or believing nothing at all about God. When he fell ill, he refused to consult a doctor, leaving his fate entirely in the hands of divine Power. He died clutching his crucifix, but the symptoms of his illness did not truly match those of the plague. When the epidemic ended, Cottard could not go on. He began randomly firing his gun into the street until he was captured by the police. Grand, having recovered from the plague, vows to make a fresh start in life. Tarrou dies just as the epidemic was ending, but he battled with all his strength for his life, just as he helped Rieux battle for the lives of others. Rambert's wife joined him in Oran right after the city gates were opened. Dr. Rieux's own wife died of a prolonged illness before she and her husband could be reunited and the public quickly returned to its old routine. Once I finally finished reading this novel, I was overjoyed. I was interest in the bubonic plague and that was the only reason I chose this novel. Camus could have very easily increased the enjoyment of reading by correcting a few problems, but there were some aspects that I loved about it. If I am reading any type of writing and I stumble upon a word that I cannot say, I improvise with something that to anyone else would sound like a sigh of relief but it sounds as it looks.
