Is submission a form of defeat?

Submission is the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force to the will or authority of another person.
Defeat is a win or victory over (someone) in a battle or other contest; overcome or beat.
No I do not think that submission is a form of defeat because he people of Oran weren't defeated by the plague. While yes they did give in and accept the fact that it was happening and death would come they weren't seen as weak in my opinion for doing that. I think submission actually shows the strength of a person because in order to submit here had to be a struggle and a person actually fought until they couldn't anymore.
We are shown in the novel Tarrou and Rieux who refuse to accept defeat by the plague and continue to fight against as well as some other people in town. I think that the city tried their best to survive and those that did came out stronger and the community was able to unite.
People didn't want to admit to the plague because they felt as though they would be defeated but I feel like as long as they at least tried to fight against the plague then they were not defeated.

Why do people ignore the obvious?

In our book The Plague rats keep appearing and dying in front of people yet no one tries to figure out why or connect it to the fact that people are starting to get sick.
So that brings this post about why people ignore the obvious?
I think everyone is guilty of telling themselves a white lie and believing it. I think we do it for our own good because we want to be happy. We tell ourselves that everything is ok because we want it to be that way and we think that of we continually say it then it will become true.
Maybe that could just be another level of fear. Just like the wives that tell themselves that they are happy in a marriage when they know they aren't.
I think that in the novel the people of Oran are afraid of admitting that the plague is happening because they know they are in a losing battle. From the deaths that have already happened suddenly the people know that death is approaching but refuse to believe it and instead trays to find different excuses for why certain people have died.