Plagues And Epidemics :: essays research papers

enkindles and Epidemics     Humans argon remarkably safe at finding a religious scapegoat for theirproblems. There has forever been some whizness to blame for the difficulties we face inlife, such as war, famine, and more than relevant, disease. Hitler blames the Jewsfor economical woes in a corrupt Germany long after the Romans held theChristians creditworthy for everything wrong in a crumbling, has-been empire. Inthe fourteenth century, when Plague struck Europe, it was blamed on "unfavorable astrological combinations or cancerous 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, soulfulness 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 thispheno custo dya. In the case of Oran, the mint raced to find a culprit for thesudden invasion 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, homosexual menbecame the target of harsh and flagrant discrimination, and even today argon motionlessnessheld accountable by some beliefs. While we may no time-consuming lynch in the nineties,we do accuse innocent groups, like the intrepid 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 stranded withinits walls began to look to their leaders for responses. Most likely these peoplehad pother believing that such an awful thing was happening to them, and neededsomeone to point the f inger at. In the meantime, Father Paneloux 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 prevalent he could calm his own fears. " If todaythe plague is in your midst, that is because the bit 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, would requital Him well enough for you criminal indifference.