For Wednesday:
Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year (pp.3-59 or thereabouts)
NOTE: This is a
fictional account of the real plague that swept through London
Answer TWO of
the following...
Q1: Why does the
Narrator (who gives his name as H.F. at the end of the work) decide to stay in London
Q2: Defoe called
this a “journal,” and in some ways it reads much more like a diary than a
novel. However, since this is a work of fiction, it is literally not a
journal at all...so how did he convince readers this was a work of non-fiction,
written by one who had experienced the plague first hand? What details make it
seem real and documentary in origin?
Q3: In many
ways, A Journal of the Plague Year is the first ‘doomsday’ novel, the
grandfather of every zombie apocalypse book and film/show ever created. Why do
you think Defoe wanted to fictionalize the real plague of 1665? What can an
author show or explore about humanity through an experience that felt like “the
end of the world”?
Q2. The amount of research and accurate documents give this story credibility. He also put the name of the main character on the cover rather than his own. Its like how movies may put "based on a true story" when most of its fiction. Yes, the family was murdered, no there probably wasn't creepy ass ghosts orchestrating the whole thing. Calm down. Yet it works every time. Technically speaking, this is probably one of the first "found footage/written sentiments" ever made.
ReplyDeleteQ3. Well, he probably thought that since people wanted something new, and seeing how this had never been done before, it was worth a shot. That and it had something for both crowds, New and old. It was something new and it was also historical. Go demographics! People would have a hard time just dismissing this book because of the attention to detail and the anxiety of if the main character lives of not. Rather ingenious.
Kenia Starry
Yes, I agree with you, it sets many precedents, including the "found footage" angle. He wants this to read like actual, lived experience, and it was probably riveting to many of its first readers (who had never read anything remotely like it). Even today, it still has the power to surprise us with its mass of details and frankness about the realities of surviving in the plague-ridden streets.
DeleteQ1: He defines his reasoning as "the will of Heaven." He saw that he had not been affected by the disease and his belief in God kept him safe and secure. The world around him had death and decay, but at that time he "had his health and limbs." He finds a confirmation and comfort in Psalms 91. The narrator is anchored in his beliefs and faith. His character appears to be steadfast and a good natured folk.
ReplyDeleteQ2: Defoe uses many numerical examples and "written documents." This technique makes the novel appear more factual. His consistent speech of encounters creates images of his walks through town. The narrator also remains in his own accounts, giving imagery of the scenery of the streets and actions by the townsfolk. His accounts allow the reader to feel as if he/she were there walking aside him.
Yes, he looks on God to save him--which, since this is fiction, tells us how Defoe wants us to see his narrator. Possibly he suggests that his faith is what saves him, as well as his selfless actions toward God and toward his own business (one of the reasons he refuses to leave is because his trade will fall apart in his absence, as well as leave his servants out of work).
Deleteq1. Though his brother disagreed with his decision and laughed at him for saying it was God telling him to stay, by making no horses available and his servant running off the man thinks it was the will of heaven, a destiny for him to stay in London. It, to me, makes him seem like a genuinely good person who has his religion playing a really big part in his life.
ReplyDeleteq2. I think a huge reason that it seems like a journal is because it's not like he's talking to someone. So far, there hasn't been any interaction with another person; no dialogue. He's been simply recording internal thoughts. To make it more like a journal, there's "factual" numbers and notes and a recording of deaths throughout it.
Yes, he wants us to see that God and morality dictates his decisions rather than a selfish desire to live. He also comes across as a no-nonsense middle-class merchant who 'trades' in facts and anecdotes. He's very business-minded, even in writing a narrative like this.
DeleteQ1: H.F. decides to stay for many reasons. He actually lists them when he is debating whether to stay or to go: "the visible call I seemed to have from the particular circumstance of my calling, and the care due from me for the preservation of my effects...also the intimations which I thought I had from Heaven" (page 33). This line really shows how thoughtful the narrator is. He carefully ways the pros and cons of each situation he encounters. He felt that God called him to stay. And, since it was a divine calling, H.F. would be saved from the plague. It is obvious that he is religious. He seems very steadfast and resolved when it comes to his decisions.
ReplyDeleteQ3: I think he wanted to write about the plague because it was something everyone did not enjoy talking about. Only through literature could it be observed a little closer. He wanted to look at it through the eyes of the everyday person to illustrate what it was like living during the plague. Audiences would have picked up this book because it was something they could relate to, and at the same time it was interesting.
Great responses...he is definitely a kind of middle class "everyman," who cleaves close to God and his city: note that he also doesn't want to leave his trade, for fear it will fall apart in his absence. He is the antihesis of a literary narrator, as he is primarily a God-fearing businessman who dares to look at the uglier sides of common life, particularly in a desperate time.
ReplyDelete