Essay 3

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Deja Flu: Is the Coronavirus a Modern-Day Influenza?

Student

ENGL 1302-66801

July 22, 2020

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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.

.