Corona virus: people predicting the epidemic
Corona virus: people predicting the epidemic
There is no idea of tomorrow in the phase we are going through today. Right now fear has captured our mind. We are all imprisoned in our homes away from social harmony. So that the new corona virus infection can slow down the speed.
During this time literature is removing our isolation. He gives us relief by taking us away from the real world. Becomes our friend However, during this time the demand for books written on the epidemic has also increased. There are many novels, which are very close to the reality of the era of the epidemic. Which is like a diary of earlier epidemics. Such novels tell us how people got out of this catastrophic disaster at that time.
British author Daniel Defoe wrote the book in 1722 – A Journal of the Plague Year. In it, Daniel wrote in detail about the plague epidemic in 1665 in London, the capital of Britain. This frightening depiction is like telling a book of accounts of every incident of that period. And there is something very similar to this virus outbreak in our times.
Daniel Defoe’s book begins in September 1664. At that time a rumor spreads that Taun’s Waba has attacked Holland. Three months later, in December 1664, the first suspicious death was reported in London. With the arrival of spring, all the churches of London get a huge increase in the notice of death of people.
By July 1665, new rules came into force in London. These rules are exactly the same, which have been imposed on us today in the name of lockdown after nearly four hundred years. Even then, all public events in London, drinking in bars, drinking on dhabas and gathering of people in the inns were banned. And the akharas and open stadiums were also closed.
Daniel Defoe writes, “The most dangerous thing for Londoners was that many people were not hawking casually. They used to roam the streets. They used to rush to buy goods. While they should stay at home However. There were also many people who lived in their homes strictly following these rules. ”
As the month of August approached, “the plague took a very violent form. This epidemic was swallowed up by families, settlements of families.” But, according to Daniel Defoe, “By the time of December 1665, the outbreak of the epidemic had slowed down. Now the air was clear and cold. Many of the people who had fallen ill had recovered. The health of the city was improving. When The last lane was also free from the epidemic, so the people of London came out on the streets and thanked God. ”
It is not a matter of saying how the atmosphere of the epidemic that came four hundred years ago is found today. This time there is almost the same atmosphere. The tension is increased.
Like Daniel Defoe, Albert Kamu has also described the epidemic in a very natural way.
Kamu in his book, The Plague, has described the plague epidemic in the city of Oran, Algeria. In the nineteenth century the city of Oran was really devastated by the plague.
We can also see the glimpse of today in the depiction of Kamu. At first the local leaders refuse to accept the influx of this epidemic, while Kamu writes that “the streets of the cities were full of dead mice.”
In his novel, a newspaper columnist raises the question, “Does the owner of our city not realize the great danger these rats pose to humans.”
The narrator of this book, Dr. Bernard, says about the bravery of the health workers, “I do not know at what moment death is waiting for me. And what will happen at the end. I just know that people Are sick and need treatment. ” And finally, there is a lesson for the survivors of this pandemic that, “They have now come to know that the most important thing in any difficult period is to love human beings.”
The Spanish flu epidemic in 1918 also changed the complexion of the world. Due to this epidemic, at least 50 million people worldwide were killed. Whereas in the first world war just before this, one crore people lost their lives. However, the dramatic events of the war hid the impact of this epidemic.
Countless novels were written on the First World War. But a lot of books were written on the Spanish flu epidemic as well. Today, due to the lockdown, people are staying in homes and following social distancing. In 1939, the British writer Catherine Ann Porter described the Spanish flu epidemic in her novel ‘Pale Horse, Pale Rider’. When Miranda, a character in Porter’s novel, falls ill, Miranda’s friend Adam tells them, “This is a very bad phase. All theaters, shops and restaurants are closed. Masses go out of the street all day long. Ambulances overnight.” She keeps running. ”
Katherine Porter, Miranda, talks about the fever and illness that lasted for weeks through drugs. When she recovers and goes out, she sees how much the world has changed due to war and flu. Katherine herself was also dying of dying of Spanish flu.
In an interview to The Paris Review in 1963, Catherine Porter had said, “I had a strange change. It took me a long time to get out and get around and live with people. I really like the rest of the world.” Was cut from. ”
Twenty-first century epidemics such as SARS in 2002, Mars in 2012 and the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014 have also given opportunities to describe deserted cities, devastated lives and economic difficulties.
Margaret Atwood imagines a world in a novel called The Year of the Flood in 2009, in which humans die more or less after an epidemic. It describes an epidemic that comes like a flood without water. Which burns the city of the city floating in the air.
The number of people who survive this epidemic, how lonely they are, has been well described by Margaret Atwood. There is a mistress named Toby, who, staring at the desolate looking sky, thinks, “There must be someone else left. There will not be a single person on this earth. There will be more people. But, will they be friends or Then the enemy. If he meets someone, what does he believe. ”
Another character in this novel is a dancer named Ren. She is saved from this conversation because she was kept in quarantine due to illness from a customer. She keeps writing her name again and again while sitting at home. Ren says, “If you live alone for many days, then you forget who you really are.”
Atwood’s novel also goes into flashbacks. During this time she tells how the balance of the natural and human world has been disturbed. Because the ruling companies had manipulated nature through bio engineering. And how environmental activists like Toby opposed these multinationals. That is, Margaret Atwood wrote her novel on a very solid foundation of reality.
Any epidemic based attraction attracts because humans meet them together. An enemy is someone who is not a human being. Then the difference of good or bad in the world disappears. Every character has an equal chance of survival. It becomes a socialist world in a way.
Chinese author Ling Ma wrote a novel titled ‘Severance’ in 2018. It also included the story of people settled in America, coming from other countries. In which a young girl named Cadence Chen takes the lead. She works in a Bible printing firm. Only nine people survive the fictional ‘Shane Fever’ epidemic that attacked New York in 2011. One of these cadences is also included. Ling Ma writes that, “After the epidemic, the city’s infrastructure has collapsed. The Internet has been ruined. The electricity grid has also been shut down.”
After this, the cadence chain and the rest of the people leave for a mall in the suburban area of Chicago. They intend to go there and settle down. The path these people go through appears to be victims of disease and fever. People dying are victims of old habits. Cadence and her companions think that they are really immune to this epidemic or have just survived divine grace.
Cadence later learns that the only way for her to escape is that he would follow the religious nuns Bob created by his group leader. Bob is an old IT professional. Cadence later rebels Bob.
The situation that Ling Ma imagined in his novel is not presently in front of us. However, Ling Ma has also appreciated that world when the epidemic ravages. Then the challenge of building society arises. The question of the development of a culture arises. Who will hold power among those who are left? Who will decide which religious tradition to follow? How will people’s right to privacy be saved?
Daily confirmed cases of corona virus
India vs rest of the world
The total cases shown in the chart are the sum of the cases in these 9 countries.
India, China, South Korea, United States, Britain, Italy and Spain.
Similarly, Emily is the story of St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel Station XI. A highly contagious disease arises from the Republic of Georgia. Just as a neutron bomb explodes. And this epidemic kills 99 percent of the world’s population. The epidemic begins when a person playing a character in Shakespeare’s play King Lear visits the stage. The subsequent story is twenty years later, when the wife of the man is noticed at a place named Station XI. The remaining characters of Station XI stage plays in empty shopping malls and small towns. They entertain people by singing.
In many respects, the story of Station XI resembles the Canterbury Tales of the famous or infamous, fourteenth-century British poet Chaucer. This was the last work written by Chaucer, in which it was written on the foundation of the Black Death or plague that ruined Europe in the fourteenth century.
Emily St. John Mandel raises the question who will decide what art is? Is Celebrity Treating Culture? When a virus invades humanity, how will a new culture be created? What will be the changes in the art and culture of the past? There is no doubt that the role of novels will also be ready on our current situation. How will Kissago describe this epidemic in the future? How will they express the community spirit among humans? What will you write about the countless brave people among us?
These are the questions that will arise when we study more. At the same time, we will prepare ourselves for the new world emerging after this epidemic.
