30 pages • 1 hour read
A Journal Of The Plague Year
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Pages 47-87Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 47-67 Summary
The narrator explains that, in July, the Bills of Death from the Western parts of London continued to list an increase in deaths by causes other than the plague. He begins to go into detail about why the shutting up of infected houses was considered a “cruel and Unchristian method” (47). In response, people began to break out by force via windows or backyards, or by bribing the watchmen. The narrator describes several incidents: in one, a watchman was asked by the family he guarded to run an errand, and in his absence, the whole family left, leaving a sick young woman to die by herself. He reports that 18 or 20 watchmen were killed, and that this is unsurprising: there “were just as many Prisons in the Town, as there were Houses shut up” (52), and it was only natural the that prisoners try to break free. He also notes that the watchmen had an impossible task, as homes had more than one entrance/exit. As the “infected” families broke out, people began to believe that the infected did not care about infecting others. According to the narrator, shutting oneself up voluntarily protected some families from the plague.
He goes on to describe how, as the disease spread, large pits were dug for the bodies. By September, over one thousand were placed in it, and the sick began to “run to those Pits wrapt in Blankets, or Rugs, and throw themselves in” (59). The narrator shares his visit to one such pit. He found it an overwhelmingly terrible sight, and there, saw a husband lamenting his wife’s death. Guards led him away to Pye Tavern, and the narrator followed. There, at 1 A.M., the narrator found a band of men mocking and taunting the grieving widower. The narrator scolded them for “behaving in such a Manner, and in such an awful Time as this was” (64). The men laughed and cursed at the idea that the plague was God’s judgment. The narrator shares that after four days, all those men were in the pit themselves. This enforces his view that the plague is “a particular Season of Divine Vengeance” (67).
Pages 68-87 Summary
The narrator believes that shutting people up in their houses was “of little or no Service in the Whole” (69). He details how infections often came to families “by the Means of their Servants” (69), and that there was only one Pest-House for the sick to move into, meaning that healthy families were shut up with their sick servants or relatives, and thus eager to break free. However, he remarks that the biggest problem was people’s lack of preparation: because most families had not stored up food, they had to go out frequently for supplies, and thus risked disease. Meanwhile, the provisions people bought—especially meat—were potentially tainted as well.
The narrator himself lacked provisions but took his advice from his friend Doctor Heath to cover his mouth when out, and mostly shut himself and his servants up at the beginning of August. They went without meat to avoid the risk. Nonetheless, he continued to venture out to check on his brother’s house and continued to hear news of sickness, death, and suicide on his journeys. Some went through days of agony and screaming before dying; others seemed perfectly well until they fell dead in the street. Robbery and looting became common during this period. The narrator relays there was a frequent rumor of a nurse who killed a patient, but he believes this rumor to be false.
Pages 47-87 Analysis
The narrator’s account functions in part as a guide for cities or citizens who face the plague (or other disasters), and in these pages, he considers whether the practice of shutting up houses is effective in presenting the disease, placing blame on both the people as well as the government. He compares shut up houses to prisons, and the watchmen as guards, and seemingly extends more sympathy to the prisoners. After all, being shut up with a sick person is close to a death sentence, and to make matters worse, wealthier families are often quarantined with their sick servants, which makes them resentful. The narrator demonstrates little shock or judgment regarding the murder of watchmen, which indicates how quickly social norms changed in the course of the plague. The introduction of massive burial pits is another indication of the rapidly changing city landscape.
While the narrator thinks though the causes for the plague’s spread, he repeats the idea that it is a sign of God’s Judgment. The indifference of the sick to infecting others might seem like a sign of man’s evilness, but in these pages, the narrator suggests that rumors of such behavior are exaggerated: the seemingly well are more likely to infect others than are the sick. He also dismisses some accounts of murder as gossip. However, he witnesses the wickedness displayed by the men at Pye Tavern firsthand and suggests their behavior is not a result of the plague, but perhaps a cause of it. While he admits that many good people die, he is certain that wicked people will all be judged.
In these pages, we see some of the narrator’s own incautious behavior. Although he knows the plague is easily spread in public places, he goes to a drinking house and scolds at length several men who die from the plague just a few days later. He does not comment on his luck at avoiding infection in this conversation.
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