A tragic tale told anew
One in a series of books (based on historical facts), under the heading "My Story", The Great Plague is a very well-written representation of life in London in 1665-1666 when the city was struck by the great plague.
The author, Pamela Oldfield, creates her protagonist in 13-year-old Alice Paynton, and gives us a lucid description of the happenings through her diary. Hence, it is at once a very informative journal and a gripping story.
Today's young people (most of whom seem to have no time for, or interest in, significant events of the past), will benefit a lot from this very easy-to-read book. Oldfield's vivid observations of people, their feelings, and various occurrences are bound to make readers appreciate all that had happened during that very dreadful period.
Seen from a thirteen-year-old's perspective, the story takes on an awe-inspiring aspect as we read of the sufferings Londoners had to face. Alice lives with her father, her aunt Nell (her late mother's older sister), their maid-servant, Maggie, and her dear dog, Poppet, in what she calls her "beloved London". She likes her life in the busy metropolis and is happy enough, despite the distressing fact that she is thirteen and has no admirers (!)
A few days after Alice starts writing in her new diary, she is confronted with the most shocking news she has ever heard: their London has been attacked by the hated and extremely contagious disease, the bubonic plague.
Alice's short (almost daily) entries are very successful in drawing a very clear and graphic picture of how conditions worsen progressively. We must have read of the Great Plague in various pieces of writing, but this narration drives home the facts of the circumstances very effectively. A child's artless way of looking at things intensifies the gravity of the situation.
Reading about what London (countless people's favourite city) was like during the terrible pestilence is a whole new experience. The fear of the contagion and the drastic measures taken to control it make worthwhile reading.
Alice's rather quiet and placid life undergoes an upheaval as her aunt Nell falls victim to the plague. Alice's unhappiness is aggravated because she thinks she is responsible (as she had helped someone who may have passed on the disease to her aunt). She is, but naturally, in two minds about whether to flee for her own safety, or to remain by her aunt's side and help her. She prays for courage and chooses the latter option.
Alice's guilt makes her want to do penance. The honesty and simplicity of her words make our hearts go out to her, especially when she appeals to God, but also feels that he is "being overwhelmed with such entreaties" and wonders if he "even hear hers among the clamour".
This brave and spirited girl with a strong sense of fairness also goes through a tormenting few days when she is afraid she might have been afflicted, and muses about whether she will last till her 14th birthday some days away.
The processes of isolating infected houses, treating infected patients, fumigating infected places, etc, are described very well and hence, the entire picture lies open before us. It is a picture that fills us with sorrow, fear and desperation.
Agonizing things happen in Alice's life as the days pass somehow - until she can finally get out of London. However, what ensues is even more heartbreaking. Normalcy seems to have become a thing of the past as London becomes a city of the dead and the dying.
Then, things begin to change. Light rays of hope occasionally come filtering into Alice's life - for which she expresses tremendous gratitude. Bits of heartwarming incidents dispel the cloud of gloom and despair. Amidst all the horrible things that happen, these apparently small occurrences lift the spirit; they also help Alice to appreciate "small mercies". One of the best things that happen is that she meets Edward Bell, a young man, (for whom aunt Nell's phrase "Handsome is as handsome does", is appropriate).
Alice and Edward grow to care for each other and their match receives approval from their elders. As a birthday gift and also as a preparation for her marriage, Alice's father lets her have a year's dancing lessons. She has to forgo the pearls he has promised her and says, "But I am older and wiser and know that to be without pearls is scarcely a hardship when others in the world have so little".
Before things can become completely normal, there's another disaster: a destructive fire breaks out in the city which is still tottering from the after-effects of the plague. Speculations about how the fire had started give us information about England's relations with her neighbours and the Catholic Protestant conflicts.
The devastation caused by the wild fire so soon after the plague seems too horrendous to be true; numerous Londoners become homeless and lose all their worldly belongings. However, there is a silver lining in the cloud of helplessness and frustration (there's always a silver lining if we want to see it). The burning down of the cities would rid the city of the remnants of the plague - and London would gradually be rebuilt. It would become a better city with wider roads and brick houses - which would not be so close to one another.
More than 60,000 people perished during the Great Plague (roughly a third to a half of London's population then). The Great Fire rendered more than 10,000 people homeless (fortunately not many people died).
Alice Paynton's diary concludes on a happy, optimistic note: "London will rise again from the ashes and I look forward to the future with hope in my heart - and with my dearest Edward by my side"; this reaffirms our belief that all bad things come to an end. A few words of wisdom from Alice's father further confirms that bad things have to be accepted in life. When Alice says that if her aunt could be with them life would be perfect, her father smiles and says "A perfect life would be of little value". Alice understands that he believes that people learn from their mistakes and grow strong by suffering. Thus, the story of London's great misfortunes leaves behind a valuable lesson for us all.
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