The main character, Dr. Bernard Rieux, is the surgeon and narrator of The Plague. In the beginning of the story he finds a dead rat on the floor. Eventually the dead rats began to pile into large masses and were burned. Soon after there were some people that got very sick, which made Dr. Rieux very curious. Since he was a doctor, he was the first to actually attempt to help one of these sick …showed first 75 words of 838 total…

…showed last 75 words of 838 total…real. Although the whole focus is not on Dr. Rieux, but because he is the narrator, in disguise, throughout the book he doctors. When Michel was dying and said "those bastards" (meaning rats) when he was suffering, seemed unbelievable. If I were dying and suffering from abdominal cramps and vomiting, I would not be coherent enough to make such a statement. I found the other characters and statements to be very believable and very emotional.