I don't think Rambert will leave. After he tried the first time he had to go this whooole round about loop de loop of people and it ultimately failed. While the two "friends" were unable to get him due to outside circumstances, I think that they also were still expressing reservations due to him not paying up front. Gonzales' vouching isn't necessarily enough to have these two people doing illegal stuff trust Rambert. If they got caught it could ruin their (probably only the smugglers') lives. I think that Rambert would get off easier due to him being a foreign journalist who is trying to escape for a completely understandable reason. He might get in trouble but ultimately the two "friends" would be the ones who take the brunt of the punishment, especially as they law enforcement would have no way of knowing how many times they had smuggled people and goods in and out of town so they would get in even more trouble.
Another reason I think Rambert will not leave is that he seems to be getting convinced by the doctors logic (I'm not even going to attempt spelling his name from memory sooooo). Also since Tarrou told Rambert that the doctor Rieux (i think?) has a wife in the sanatorium 100 miles away, Rambert will put off his love and focus on saving the town. If Rambert really escapes then the plague will most likely spread across Europe once he gets to France and since other than the talk about Paris' vaccines I think the book is trying to be localized so Rambert will stay.
I have to say I am biased since I have already read past part 4, but I definitely agree with your argument that Rambert would not leave, based solely on the evidence given within the past chapters. Additionally, I feel like the book would miss a unique symbol by just letting Rambert leave Oran. It kind of just seems anti-dramatic.
ReplyDeleteYeah in the end Rambert felt guilty about leaving, but also felt less alone than he did at first because he grew close to the townspeople. I think what Rieux said also contributed. I do think it's kinda unlikely that Rambert would result in the devastation of Europe if he left, but yes, it's selfish to take that risk.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of an interesting dilemma either way because if he puts his own interests aside for the town that's cool character development, but it would also have been interesting to see what would have happened if he did escape and the plague spread more.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly had more foresight than me but maybe I was blinded by the fact that I wanted him to go because I thought that would be a more interesting narrative. I think that his choice to stay definitely has character development but it is almost boring. The smuggling was interesting to me and I wanted to see Rambert's great escape from Oran.
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