Seema Sinha
Research Scholar, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan
Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s25n4
Abstract
The dystopian tropes in the plague narratives shift our gaze from the presence of professional ethics to the Gothic horror that unfolds subsequently. Yet whether it is the Great Plague of London in the year 1665, or the Novel Coronavirus in Mumbai in the year 2020, the rampant spread of the contagion and the associated dread bring into focus the selflessness of the caregivers, namely, the medical and the para-medic staff. Comparing the occurrences, one historical, the other still unfolding, this study examines the eery similarities that delineate contagion as metaphor, and the role of doctors in the pandemics. The aim is to find out what happens when the doctors stumble – to succumb to fear, to fall prey to diseases that flesh is subject to, or to violate the oath of Hippocrates. We intend to scrutinize if like soldiers on the battle-front, these frontline warriors also keep their tryst with death in the line of duty, or does History record otherwise. Whether the pestilence be classical or modern, the response of the caregivers is the cornerstone on which any society is grounded. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if courage in the face of disaster is still relevant in this age of anxiety, or does self-preservation win against ethics and morality. A close reading of Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year gives us an insight into the timelessness of such issues, especially in a world that is plagued with maladies of its own making.
Keywords: Dystopian, tropes, plague narratives, gaze, Gothic, contagion as metaphor