Plagues And Epidemics :: essays research papers

Plagues and Epidemics     Humans are remarkably good at finding a religious scapegoat for theirproblems. There has always been psyche to blame for the difficulties we face inlife, such as war, famine, and more relevant, disease. Hitler blames the Jewsfor economical woes in a corrupt Germany long after the Romans held theChristians responsible for everything wrong in a crumbling, has-been empire. Inthe fourteenth century, when Plague struck Europe, it was blamed on "unfavorable astrological conspiracys or malignant atmospheres" (handout p2),and even "deliberate combination by witches, Moslems (an idea proposed byChristians), Christians (proposed by Moslems) and Jews (proposed by bothgroups)." (H p2) The point is, aroundone was to blame even when the obviousreasons, flea ridden rats, were laying dead on the streets. As time progressedto the twentieth century, there have been few if any exceptions made to thisphenomena. In the case of Oran, the p eople raced to find a culprit for thesudden impingement of their town, which became the unrepentant man. This is one ofCamus major themes The way a society deals with an epidemic is to blame it onesomeone else. Twenty years ago, when AIDS emerged in the US, transvestite menbecame the target of harsh and flagrant discrimination, and even today are stillheld accountable by some beliefs. While we may no long-term lynch in the nineties,we do accuse innocent groups, like the gay male population, for the birth andexplosion of AIDS in our society. Given, there are some differences between eachrespective situation, but there are striking similarities that cannot be ignored.     As the Plague invaded the town of Oran, the people quarantined withinits walls began to hold off to their leaders for answers. Most likely these peoplehad trouble believing that such an awful thing was happening to them, and fatalityedsomeone to point the finger at. In the meantime, Father Pa neloux was preparing aspeech to answer the questions and fears that surrounded him, and probably vexedhim as well. The truth is, his speech was as much therapeutic as it was didactic,and in winning the opinion of the public he could calm his own fears. " If todaythe plague is in your midst, that is because the hour has struck for takingthought. The just man need have no fear, but the evildoer has good cause totremble." (p95) Paneloux is passing the blame, but in a very intriguing way."You believed some brief formalities, some bendings of the knee, wouldrecompense Him well enough for you criminal indifference.