Episode 22: All Regulations and Methods Were in Vain
By now the author’s belief that the policy of shutting up households was futile and cruel should be abundantly clear, but just in case it isn’t, here are more anecdotes illustrating that point. You will recall that a few episodes ago the author mentioned that he was appointed a watcher himself, over his most strident protests, including his assertion that he couldn’t discharge his duties faithfully because of his objections to the policy. Here he reveals that he was able to pay someone to take his place after a mere three weeks, but particularly as these weeks were at the height of the epidemic, his experiences overwhelmingly confirmed his objections. During his brief tenure as a watcher, he comes to the conclusion that a superior way to manage the disease would be to remove the healthy from infected households rather than imprisoning them there. Finally, however, as the epidemic reaches the apex of its fury, even the shutting up of houses stops, and “the people sat still looking at one another” in shocked silence.
[For notes on the main themes of the novel, visit https://londonplague.com/postscript/. To see some ways in which our reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic are anticipated in the Journal, see https://londonplague.com/concordance/.]
Credits:
Podcast produced by Sam Brelsfoard.
Music from Funeral Sentences of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), performed by the Choir of Clare College at the University of Cambridge, Timothy Brown conducting. Used by permission.
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© 2020 Mark Cummings