The serum from Paris proves ineffective, and the plague turns pneumonic. Rieux thinks that his wife is lying about the state of her health in her telegrams. Tarrou draws up a plan to recruit volunteers for the sanitation league because he does not want to see anyone condemned to death by compulsory service. Rieux would be grateful for the help, but he asks Tarrou if he has weighed the dangers. When Tarrou asks for his opinion on Paneloux's sermon, Rieux states that the plague victims' suffering makes him detest the idea of "collective punishment." Tarrou believes that human catastrophes have a positive side because they force people to "rise above themselves." When Tarrou asks if he believes in God, Rieux avoids the question by explaining that Paneloux has not seen the suffering first hand, so he has the luxury of believing in "Truth." Rieux believes that it might be best to cease believing in God and to throw all efforts into defying death. Although such efforts might be useless, he sees no reason for giving up.
Although Tarrou's plan proves effective, Rieux hesitates to exaggerate the importance of the volunteers' efforts because it makes them seem like rare occurrences. He believes that people are basically good, and that ignorance is their worst vice. The volunteers realize that the plague is everyone's concern, so they do their duty by helping to fight it. Doctor Castel begins making serum using the local bacillus microbe. Grand becomes a general secretary for the sanitation league. Rieux muses that many readers will require a "hero,"
