Essay 3
Running Head: DEJA FLU 1
Deja Flu: Is the Coronavirus a Modern-Day Influenza?
Student
ENGL 1302-66801
July 22, 2020
Running Head: DEJA FLU 2
Abstract
This essay explores the similarities in the government reaction to the 1918 Influenza pandemic
and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Miranda from Katherine Anne Porter’s novella, “Pale
Horse, Pale Rider” shares similarities with the survivors of COVID-19 as told in the articles,
“They Beat the Virus. Now They Feel Like Outcasts” recently published in The New York Times
and “COVID-19 Is a Delirium Factory,” published in The Atlantic. An article from the
newspaper Arizona Republic directly aligns the similarities of the 1918 and 2020 pandemics in
the city of Phoenix.
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Deja Flu: Is the Coronavirus a Modern-Day Influenza?
Few can argue that 2020 hasn’t been an uneventful year with the outbreak of the
Coronavirus, the rising death toll of people who have died from exposure, as well as the
controversy about how the Trump Administration is handling the outbreak. As the death
casualties continue to escalate, many can’t help but compare this pandemic to the 1918 flu
outbreak. Despite the medical advances that have allowed doctors to cure diseases that were
previously viewed as deadly, the 1918 flu and the current COVID-19 pandemic are similar
because they have both taken the lives of many Americans, forced society into isolation in more
ways than one, and highlighted how the president underestimated the dangers of the pandemic
(Arizona Republic, 2020). As Corona cases continue to rise, government members have been
questioning whether they made a mistake by opening the world so soon and what their next
move should be. A glimpse into the past, through the story of Miranda’s fighting the 1918
influenza and an article about the 1918 pandemic in Arizona, is exactly what America needs
right now to combat this virus.
In the fall of 1918, the world was in for a rude awakening “when one of the deadliest
pandemics in the world hit Phoenix,” and then again when the Coronavirus started to spread
across the world this year (Arizona Republic, 2020). One of the main reasons that the flu
pandemic got as bad as it did is because then-President Wilson didn’t see the flu as a threat and
neglected to take precautions that could have minimized the number of casualties. Just like
President Trump “who early on downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic as the Democrats' ‘new
hoax,’ President Woodrow Wilson wasn't much of a leader during the pandemic”(Arizona
Republic, 2020). When the flu outbreak first hit the world in 1918, President Wilson continued to
focus on the war and completely ignore the influenza pandemic. It even got to the point where
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President Wilson was encouraging factory employees to continue working despite the concerns
of public health services (Arizona Republic, 2020). Because President Watson wasn’t that
involved when it came to reducing the effect of the flu, “some people poured a product called
Germo into teacups… hoping to somehow kill the virus before the virus killed them;” however
their attempts were in vain, and the virus only spread even more (Arizona Republic, 2020). By
the time the government had finally started implementing self-isolation and city shutdowns, it
was too late and over half a million people had already died from the flu alone (Arizona
Republic, 2020). Some would argue that President Wilson’s priorities were not in order because
winning the war was more important to him than the safety of American citizens. Similarly, the
current COVID crisis has showcased that President Trump’s biggest concern is getting the
economy stable. Typically, when it comes to the national government, leaders tend to make
rules and decision based on the idea that society as a whole is more important than the
individual. However, when hundreds and thousands of lives are at stake, scientists have yet to
find a stable cure, and health services are recommending individuals to self- isolate, the question
of just how many people have to die before some serious precautions take place is relevant and
equally frightening to consider.
While the origins of both the (wrongly assumed to originate in Spain) 1918 flu and the
(president’s racist and politically-charged nicknamed “China Virus”) Coronavirus are
controversial, it is hard to deny that Americans had a hand in spreading both viruses. When the
flu first came into America, President Wilson did not take it seriously until it was too late. After
realizing that the authority wasn’t going to do anything about the pandemic, citizens started
exploring their own remedies to combat the flu, and they would soon learn that this virus was
unlike anything anyone had ever seen before (Arizona Republic, 2020). As the death toll from
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the flu continued to rise and funerals became a social norm, some people simply gave up hope of
living after being diagnosed with the flu (Porter, 1939). In the story “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,”
Porter express the emotions Miranda felt after being diagnosed with the flu. During that time,
World War I was ending, the flu pandemic was still going strong, and many lives had already
been lost to both the flu and the war. Even though people expected her to be happy that she was
cured and that the war was over, Miranda felt anything but happiness since she had no one left
on earth to celebrate with. Few people can truly understand what it felt like to be sick with a
possibly deadly disease and live to tell the tale. Miranda’s friends and family were probably
some of the few people who could understand her situation, but now that they are gone, she feels
like “there may never be light again “ (Porter 1939, p. 94). Even though COVID survivors don’t
usually lose their family members physically like Miranda did, there is a sort of mental isolation
that happens to a survivor before and even after COVID.
Due to all the struggles that came before and after getting infected, most flu and COVID
survivors have mixed feelings about surviving the virus. While most people are grateful to live
another day, there are a few who like Miranda, wished they would’ve died. Contrary to what the
public may believe, the road to recovery after surviving both viruses is not an easy one.
Recovery after COVID is often more difficult than surviving the actual disease since most
survivors still experience nightmares, anxiety and are still recovering from the delusions they had
when they were sick (Buder, 2020). As if beating the virus wasn’t hard enough, many COVID-
19 survivors continue to feel isolated from society since most of their friends and family are
scared to come near them. Even though Miranda didn’t experience any side effects after
recovering from the flu, she still experienced the “dynamic of being terrified of dying…terrified
of dying alone..."(Buder, 2020, p. 1). Similar to how Miranda is trying to find her place in
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society after realizing that she was the only one who survived the flu, COVID survivors may also
feel like outcasts as they attempt to find a balance between their life before and after Corona.
They might fear that life as they knew it will never be the same since everyone now identifies
them as a COVID 19 survivor and nothing else. Even after being cleared from the virus, many
survivors "... are still confronting a fear-driven stigma from the outside world" (Nir, 2020). The
isolation that survivors felt after trying to find their place in society just goes to show how much
times have not changed.
Despite advances in the medical field, the 1918 flu and COVID-19 are extremely similar
even though they are over one hundred years apart. Compared to the 1918 flu, the current
COVID crises make it seem as if history is repeating itself. Lack of awareness about the dangers
of both viruses have caused people to underestimate how contagious they are (Arizona Republic,
2020). In both time periods, the presidents in office were not involved when it came to
containing the pandemic. Aside from that, citizens from both pandemics experienced similar
emotions. For example, after catching the flu, people often gave up hope of living because
medicine was not that far advanced yet. Even though medicine is far more advanced now,
patients in COVID era are still experiencing this feeling of hopelessness since there is currently
not a cure for this deadly virus. Even if a person survived one of the pandemics, there’s a high
possibility that their life will never be the same again. Whether the survivors want to admit it or
not, catching either of the illnesses and then surviving it can change a person. For example, after
surviving the flu, Miranda might have felt like she had already lost so much to the war and to the
flu that she couldn’t fully celebrate being alive. One survivor of COVID-19 believes that the
virus “carries a particular sting given the worldwide discussions about how reopening society
will hinge in part on people with antibodies being able to return to work, and about how those
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who have recovered can donate …those who are still sick” (Nir, 2020). When it comes to
COVID-19, many survivors fear that life may never return to normal since people they believed
were their friends have treated them as strangers, just as many survivors of the 1918 influenza,
such as Miranda, felt like strangers in the world they awoke to.
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References
Buder, E., & Pasztor, A. (2020, May 8). COVID-19 Is a Delirium Factory. The Atlantic.
Retrieved from www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2020/05/icu-delirium/611155/
Lessons from the 1918 Flu: Just Like COVID-19, the Spanish Flu that Hit Phoenix in Waves
Starting in 1918 was Deadly and Spread Rapidly. (2020, March 29). Arizona Republic.
Retrieved from ProQuest.
Nir, S. M. (2020, May 20). They Beat the Virus. Now They Feel Like Outcasts. The New York
Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/nyregion/coronavirus-victims-
immunity.html
Porter, K.A. (1939). Class handout from Angie Cook, Summer 2020.
.