How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Stuart Gilbert's translation.
Quote #31
These groups enabled our townsfolk to come to grips with the disease and convinced them that now that plague was among us, it was up to them to do whatever could be done to fight it. Since plague became in this way some men’s duty, it revealed itself as what it really was; that is, the concern of all. (2.8.4)
The plague, like death, is the concern of everyone. The Plague argues that, because of this commonality, we all must struggle together against the horrors of the world.
Quote #32
No longer were they individual destinies; only a collective destiny, made of plague and the emotions shared by all. (3.1.1)
Mankind’s collective destiny is shaped by loss and death. Which is a good thought to have in your back pocket, should you ever find yourself caught in a debate over mankind’s collective destiny.
Quote #33
About the same time we had a recrudescence of outbreaks of fire, especially in the residential area near the west gate. It was found, after inquiry, that people who had returned from quarantine were responsible for these fires. Thrown off their balance by bereavement and anxiety, they were burning their houses under the odd delusion that they were killing off the plague in the holocaust. (3.1.5)
The irrationality invoked by a fear of death is a destructive one. Not unlike death itself. How fitting.