Analysis of Plague Literature Essay Example

Any great piece of plague literature does not only highlight the physical threats of society, but also the downfalls of it. In many of the stories, outside of the world of disease, there is always some sort of message about how society is in a bad spot. For example, in Kathrine Anne Porter’s semi-autobiography “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,” Miranda, the main character, shows us her everyday problems about not supporting the war. She gets harassed by the bond salesmen and does not feel comfortable in voicing her true feelings about the war to anyone but Adam. In Jack London’s “The Scarlet Plague,” James Smith recalls society before the plague that wiped out most of the population in a way that is very critical of the capitalist system. He points out that the powerful class lives a lavish life while the working class is oppressed and overworked. These stories highlight many social issues during the times they are written in to show readers the depth of these issue. This feature of plague literature also opens an avenue for writers to use an analogy of making their diseases the social issue. This can be seen in Colson Whitehead’s Zone One. In the book, some of the infected are stuck in a repetitive loop of doing the same thing repeatedly until they are unable to. Here, the disease is the repetitive and mellow lifestyle that many people feel stuck in today. The issues that are presented in each piece is to show how important they really are. They are showing the reader that it should not and does not take a world altering event to point out social issues. This is important to include in these stories because it allows readers to look deeper into these social issues and to help them see that they are as real as any disease. These issues need to be taken as seriously as these diseases are. Plague literature uses this platform to stress how important these issues are and further engages the reader in these issues. 

Plague literature often shows us how we as people dance with death every day of our lives. As we have seen in these past few years, disease and pestilence does not have a preferred time or manor. Diseases can appear out of nowhere and run ramped through communities and countries alike. This can be seen in Don DeLillo’s White Noise. Jack Gladney, who has an almost crippling fear of death, is exposed to a chemical that was leaked into the city and it could eventually kill him. Although he did not put himself in harms way, death still found its way to tighten its grasp on Jack. In Anthony Clarvoe’s play “The Living.” The characters are surrounded and encapsulated by death. With the black plague doing its worst, dead bodies are a common sight. We can also see people try and escape death such as in Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” Despite Prince Prospero’s attempt to keep disease and death out of his palace, death itself comes through the gates and kills everyone inside. This is to show that we cannot escape death. These themes around death are significant to plague literature because it shows the reader the importance of life and the inevitability of death. The themes express to the reader that we as people are not God and do not have domain over death. It also displays our constant encounters with death. Readers can come to a greater realization about how death is involved in our lives and that it is something we live with. 

One of the most important features of plague literature is how the characters are developed. The characters can be developed to be relatable or to be portrayed as someone we can relate someone else to. Some characters are also used to show how a normal person can become extraordinary in the new order of the word. In Zone One, Mark Spitz is presented as a very mediocre guy who has accomplished almost nothing in his life.