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'Love' has been expressed in the novel in various forms on different occasions. We can identify at least eleven such, events or occasions in the novel.
Insufficient Love:
Love 1: The words that Dr. Rieux struggles for when he's saying goodbye to his wife indicate that he doesn't feel he's loved her and cared for her as well as he could have.
Love for the Animals:
Love 2: The cat man's behaviour, although a little odd, indicates he feels a kind of love for the cats.
Separation from the Loved Ones Causes Suffering:
Love 3: The narrator explains that a great source of suffering is being physically separated from the people you love.
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| The Plague |
Desire to See the Loved Ones:
Love 4: The feelings motivated by love, especially the desire to see loved ones again, is more passionately felt by the citizens of Oran than the horror of the death around them.
Need to Keep Love Alive:
Love 5: Joseph Grand, is torn up by lost love, and is saddened by 2 the idea that he was unable to keep his love with Jeanne alive by talking things through.
Memories of the Loved Ones:
Love 6: The townspeople of Oran, including Rambert, find that memories they have for loved ones paralyze them - these memories keep them from being so miserable that they absolutely must fight against the plague.
It is Worth Living for Love:
Love 7: Rambert says that it is only worth living and dying for love, not for an idea.
Long Isolation Could Kill Love:
Love 8: Rieux's observation that "bind endurance ... had outlasted love supposes that enough suffering and long enough isolation from a loved one might kill love.
Losing Chance to Love?
Love 9: Dr. Rieux loses two major chances at being able to love at the chronicle's end - both Tarrou and his wife are lost to death.
Loving Humans Leads to Happiness:
Love 10: Dr. Rieux's conclusion is that loving humans is a more certain path to happiness than loving ideas.
Love is a Universal Emotion:
Love 11: Love is mentioned as one emotion that all the citizens of Oran, and all the world, have in common.