Dr. Bernard Rieux
An intelligent, dutiful, and tireless doctor in the town of Oran, Dr. Rieux is revealed at the end to be the narrator of the chronicle that comprises the novel. He is in his thirties, is handsome, and does not believe in God. At the beginning of the novel he bids farewell to his wife, who is going to stay in a sanitarium. He spends the months of plague tirelessly attending to patients and grappling with his understanding of God, morality, the meaning of life and the role of love, and man's duty to man. He is thoughtful, unflagging in his work, and a compassionate friend to Tarrou, Paneloux, and Grand. At the end of the novel, even after Tarrou and his wife have died, he is hesitantly open to experiencing the joy of the plague's demise. However, he vacillates between partaking in such collective joy and his awareness as a man of science that the plague never truly goes away but only hides and waits before arising once more.
Jean Tarrou
Jean Tarrou is a stocky, youngish, and keen-witted man whose diary is a key source for Rieux in the chronicle. He had come to Oran a few weeks prior, though no one knew exactly why. He has private income and thus does not work. He is fascinated by the quirks of the townspeople and writes of them in his diary. As the plague begins to ravage the populace, he asks Rieux to let him form volunteer squads. He and Rieux become close friends, and he confides in Rieux how his youth was shaped by his recognition that "plague" is in all men; that humans should not oppress or kill each other under any circumstances, even if crimes are committed; that he was an agitator and activist all around Europe; and that he is seeking real peace through making sure that he prevents "infections." He deems his path to peace the "path of sympathy" (254). Sadly, as the plague recedes he falls ill from it and passes away.
Cottard
First introduced after his failed suicide attempt, Cottard is a neighbor of Grand's and guilty of some unspecified criminal act that makes him paranoid that he will be arrested at any moment. When the plague comes, diverting the town administrators' focus, Cottard flourishes. He becomes loquacious, companionable, and extroverted, delighting in how others now feel how he felt—frightened, oppressed, anxious. As the plague begins to abate, though, he becomes more and more paranoid that he is going to be arrested and his freedom forever curtailed. The authorities do indeed seek him out, and he ends up having a shootout from his apartment building with the police. He seems to have gone mad, and is captured and taken away.
Joseph Grand
Joseph Grand is a former patient of Rieux's whom he did not charge on account of his being poor. Grand works in the Municipal Office and thus has a firsthand understanding of the statistics of the plague. Rieux describes him as simple, quiet, and a little eccentric and mysterious (at least until he learns about the man's writing project and doomed marriage). He has the gait of a shy young priest, lives an honest and quotidian life, is underpaid but happy to have free time to work on his writing (which consists only of the first sentence of a novel that he has rewritten hundreds of times), and cheerfully volunteers to be part of the sanitary squads. He eventually tells Rieux his life story, which consists of the fact that he married a young woman named Jeanne but was a terrible husband due to being overworked and generally ignorant of what makes a good marriage, so Jeanne left him and he has not been able to get over her. He thinks of her constantly and only at the end of the novel after he has recovered from a bout of plague gets up enough courage to write her.
Father Paneloux
Father Paneloux is a "learned and militant" Jesuit who is well-liked in the town. He gives two notable sermons during the plague, the first telling the people that the plague was sent to help them learn their lesson of faith, and the second a more chastened sermon on how he must choose God over nothing at all. After the Othon boy's death, he develops this conviction and takes it to its logical conclusion—a priest should not consult a doctor. When he falls ill of what is most likely plague, then, he holds out as long as possible without seeking medical attention. Rieux, though an atheist, is a friend and intellectual equal of Paneloux's, and monitors his health as he suffers. Paneloux eventually dies.
Madame Rieux
Madame Rieux is the doctor's wife and has been mentally unwell for a time. She goes to a sanitarium at the beginning of the novel to improve, but ends up dying while there.
Castel
An older doctor and friend of Rieux's, Castel is the first to identify the scourge for what it is—plague. He works on an anti-plague serum, which is initially not very successful but later helps many individuals recover.
Dr. Richard
One of Rieux's colleagues and chairman of the local Medical Association, he is supportive of Rieux and makes efforts to fight the plague. However, he dies of plague at the end of the epidemic.
The Prefect
The head medical administrator, he is reluctant to name the plague for what it is, but does so nevertheless. He is in charge of issuing rules and regulations, which Rieux often does not think are strong enough.
Monsieur Othon
Othon is described as tall, dark, and worldly-looking in appearance, albeit a bit weary. He has a wife and two children; his son's death due to the plague is the climax of the novel. At the beginning of the plague, he is still committed to living his life as normal, but he develops an acute sympathy and compassion for the people when his own life is destroyed by the plague. He continues volunteering in the isolation camp he is sent to, even after he has passed the right amount of time. He succumbs to the plague just as it is beginning to leave the town.
Rambert
A young, attractive, and ambitious journalist, Rambert comes to Oran to write about colonial governance but is stuck there due to the plague. He leaves a wife behind him in Paris, and is desperate to return to her. When normal bureaucratic methods fail him, he turns to Cottard, who puts him in contact with intermediaries, sentries, and others who promise to get him out. By the time this is actually possible, Rambert has decided to remain and be of service to Rieux in the quarantine stations. He eventually reunites with his wife.
Michel
Michel is the concierge at Rieux's apartment building and one of the first to be stricken and die of the plague.
Othon's Son
He falls ill with the plague and dies a terrible, drawn-out death. Rieux, Tarrou, and Paneloux witness this dying and have visceral responses to it. It also heavily affects the boy's father, who commits himself to volunteering in lieu of finding anything else meaningful in life.
The Asthma Patient
He is an elderly invalid Spaniard who has a limited life but nonetheless finds pleasure in it. Rieux visits him often as part of his consultations.
Madame Rieux (The Elder)
She is Rieux's mother who comes to stay with him while his wife is in the sanitarium. She is a kind, tranquil, and optimistic woman and brings Rieux a great deal of peace.
Raoul, Garcia, and Gonzalez
They are contacts of Cottard who are supposed to help Rambert escape Oran.
Marcel and Louis
They are two brothers and sentries at the gate who are supposed to help Rambert escape.
