How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Stuart Gilbert's translation.
Quote #19
"I know!" Cottard exclaimed. "You’re writing a book, aren’t you?" (1.8.30)
The notion of Grand writing a book is laughable, to say the least. But what we find comic, Rieux finds to be endearing. After all, Grand is proclaimed the hero of the novel (if there were to be a hero, which there isn’t).
Quote #20
"Why, because an author has more rights than ordinary people, as everybody knows. People will stand much more from him." (1.8.35)
Cottard believes that a writer has more rights, probably because he has a command of language.
Quote #21
Words like "special arrangements," "favor," and "priority" had lost all effective meaning. (2.1.2)
Language is often a way to gauge reality in The Plague; because these specific words have lost their meaning, we know that the plague has leveled the town and that all citizens are now equal.