Scarlet Fever Monologue

In two years between 1918 and 1919, A pandemic of influenza swept mercilessly over the planet, killing millions which stood in its path. Miraculously, the exact origin of the pandemic is unclear. What is exceedingly clear, however, is that often the actions of man aided in the spread of the virus, whether due to inadvertent endangerment, close quarters, religious principles, or failure to recognize the true threat that influenza posed.

The book “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, written by John M. Barry, covers the progression of the Spanish influenza, especially in the United States. Barry focuses not only on the influenza itself, though, but also on the social influences that allowed the virus to flourish. The book covers how medical practices in the United States had risen up just in time to combat the virus, but, due to societal issues and the war, the doctors struggled in areas where they should have been successful.

“On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him." Chapter 1, pg. 46

The first wave of the 1918 pandemic appeared in San Sebastián, Spain. Within two months, 8 million of Spain’s residents were ill, and the disease had spread on a global scale. Soon it became known as the Spanish flu, because it received the most press there. The other nations had their media tied up with wartime censorship; Spain, a noncombatant, had no such measures in place (Kolata, Flu 9-10). The first wave of the 1918 pandemic appeared in America without much comment. The media was more interested in attention-grabbing news about topics like the war than the rather unremarkable flu. Most people were afflicted with symptoms for a few days before recovering and moving on. The only aspect of the flu that was remarkable was the condition of the lungs from the victims who had died from the flu and pneumonia (Crosby 17-21).

Fever 1793 is a historical fiction novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson that describes how Yellow Fever affected lives of everybody during the three months of sickness and panic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Life today is more straightforward than it was in 1793 because of the technology. Fever 1793 is a story about a young girl, Matilda “Mattie” Cook, who faces challenges surviving in a Yellow Fever- struck city (Philadelphia). Mattie loses her grandfather on her journey of survival and her mother is nowhere to be seen, leaving Mattie to grow up and survive her journey alone. If the story was taking place in modern times, Mattie and the rest of Philadelphia would not struggle as much as they did in the story. The modern day technology that is here today allows this generation to progress through life smoother. Today’s technology would have a significant, positive impact on the community during 1793. If the people of Philadelphia had the knowledge of symptoms and treatments of Yellow Fever, they would have known for sure if the fever was occurring in the beginning and they would have also known how the fever was to

Another example from the book is in chapter 2 on page 15 the idea that illness was caused by microscopic organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, was not known at the time. Instead, doctors based their medical thinking on the 2,500-year-old Greek humoral theory. THis concept stated that good health resulted when body fluids, called humors, were balance. This means that you could have the humors. The humors were phlegm, choler, bile, and blood.

A common theme throughout literature is religion and how the author feels about his or her faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to draw comparisons between characters and events in The Scarlet Letter and Biblical figures and accounts. A few of the devices found in this novel that connect it to the Bible are symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization. It is important to first look at the characters and how they are described through characterization.

Fever,1793 by Laurie Hale’s Anderson is a historical fiction book about yellow fever. Fever is about a girl named Mattie and her family, and how the get through the pestilence. The reader, believes the theme is to never give up, even in the hard times. The reasons why the reader believes this is the theme, is because perseverance can help you survive through the hard times, even when it would be easier to give up its better to persevere, and when you persevere you reach your goals.

Chapter One of of Jim Murphy’s book, An American Plague, opens with the quote, ‘About this time, this destroying scourge, the malignant fever, crept in among us” (Murphy 1). This quote is accredited to Mathew Carey in November, 1793. The term scourge is defined as, “a person or thing that cause great trouble of suffering,” and the term malignant is defined as, “tending to produce death or deterioration.” These are very strong terms with extremely negative connotative meanings. The figurative language which is evident in the quote at the opening of Chapter One is personification. Carey’s quote give yellow fever an eerie, human-like quality when he writes, “the destroying scourge, the malignant fever, CREPT in among us” (Murphy 1). CArey’s word choices and use of personification help to create a powerful image in the reader’s mind of the threat looming over the city of Philadelphia.\

In the early 1900’s medicine was making some steps closer into some great improvements for health and better understanding of the human body. Doctors with sufficient knowledge of the human body and cures for diseases and viruses were scarce. People were much more concerned with government and politics, than health and medicine, until one of the greatest and most grotesque lethal pandemics that’s struck the earth in human history. This pandemic the “Spanish Flu” spread so rapidly and had an extremely high mortality rate. This was caused by the close contact of humans and poor cleanliness and sanitation, and the host (virus) and the body taking harsh action

In the early 20th century, when the influenza was barely spreading, many people had a negative feeling, they felt fear, therefore, it led to many responses. In some cases, people responded with religious measures, as they believed it was a message from God, therefore, their actions toward the epidemic were guided by their religion.

The book The Great Influenza by John Barry takes us back to arguably one of the greatest medical disasters in human history, the book focuses on the influenza pandemic which took place in the year 1918. The world was at war in the First World War and with everyone preoccupied with happenings in Europe and winning the war, the influenza pandemic struck when the human race was least ready and most distracted by happenings all over the world. In total the influenza pandemic killed over a hundred million people on a global scale, clearly more than most of the deadliest diseases in modern times. John Barry leaves little to imagination in his book as he gives a vivid description of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and exactly how this pandemic affected the human race. The book clearly outlines the human activities that more or less handed the human race to the influenza on a silver platter. “There was a war on, a war we had to win” (Barry, p.337). An element of focus in the book is the political happenings back at the time not only in the United States of America but also all over the world and how politicians playing politics set the way for perhaps the greatest pandemic in human history to massacre millions of people. The book also takes an evaluator look at the available medical installations and technological proficiencies and how the influenza pandemic has affected medicine all over the world.

Then, in the fall of 1918, influenza struck. People everywhere fell victim to the Spanish flu, dying of uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs and caused the patients to drown (Crane 1). Estimates say that approximately 20 to 40 percent of the world’s population became ill, and the worldwide death toll was around 20 to 40 million (“NVPO” 2). Around 675,000 people died in America alone (Crane 5). The Spanish flu struck quickly; you could feel well in the morning, get sick by noon, and be dead by nightfall (“NVPO” 2). The doctors were unable to cure the Spanish flu, so the people resorted to superstitious practices, such as wearing a

Yellow Fever is a dangerous viral infection. Yellow fever gets its name from the fact that the disease typically causes the skin to become yellow as well as producing a fever. Brian R. Shmaefsky, author of the book Yellow Fever explains that "Yellow fever is also known by other names. Throughout history yellow fever was called black vomit, vomito negro, sylvatic fever, and Yellow Jack. Black vomit, or vomito negro, is known as very dark vomit that many infected people produce. Sylvatic fever gets his name from the fact that the disease is common in areas with jungles or forests. The name Yellow Jack was given by the newspapers because yellow fever was perceived to be as destructive as any enemy troop". In cartoons the disease was pictured as a skeleton wearing a yellow military jacket. The Virus is transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical regions, so it cannot be spread person to person by direct contact. The disease is principally spread in tropical regions of Africa and America. Every year it is recorded 200,000 cases of Yellow Fever, and 30,000 of that die. However, because of the poor record-keeping, the data recorded do not reflect the reality. Moreover, in the last years, epidemics are increasing the number of people affected by Yellow Fever. Even though there are ways to prevent it, it is dangerous because it can cause death and also it has many symptoms.

Crosby introduces the novel by detailing the plague seemingly at its worst level. The symptoms of the fever are described,