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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Great Influenza, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Leadership and Crisis
Truth, Free Press, and Propaganda
Science vs. Nature
Education, Research, and Institutions
Summary
Analysis
Back when the U.S. was still neutral in the war, William Welch and others watched from abroad, observing the way technology had transformed the conflict into the first truly scientific war. This new recognition of science’s importance allowed Welch, with the approval of President Wilson, to create a medical section of a National Research Council dedicated to war-related scientific research.
Though in some ways the war was a distraction from the pandemic, particularly when it came to news coverage, in some ways it also helped divert more resources toward scientific efforts. This again reinforces the idea that medicine isn’t an isolated discipline but is in fact deeply interconnected with other disciplines when it comes to public health.
Themes
Even before World War I, it was well-known that epidemic disease killed more people than combat. Recent wars, like the Spanish-American War and the Boer Wars (around the turn of the 20th century), had proven this. For the upcoming war, Surgeon General of the Army William Crawford Gorgas would be the one responsible for making decisions about military medicine. As a Spanish-American War veteran, he wanted to make sure not to repeat that war’s deadly medical mistakes.
Though Gorgas did not succeed in preventing the pandemic, he was able to do some good to slow the spread. Perhaps his most important skill was his ability to learn from the past. Previous wars provided ample evidence of what diseases could do, and in theory generals and other leaders should have been well prepared; in practice, however, these important concerns were usually delegated to specialists like Gorgas, whose advice was often ignored.
Themes
Venereal disease in particular was a problem, and local governments across the U.S. used this a pretext to shut down red-light districts.
Though strong leadership is often needed during wars and pandemics, both of these crises often provide governments with convenient excuses to do other things in the name of national security.
Themes
Leading up to the war, the U.S. military didn’t have nearly enough medical personnel, and it particularly lacked nurses. Gorgas tried to create a corps of “practical nurses” who were not fully educated and trained like “graduate nurses.” The head of the Army Nurse Corps resisted the idea, insisting that it threatened professional nurses. Eventually, she reversed her position, but her colleagues still rejected the idea of practical nurses.
Unlike some of the other issues presented in The Great Influenza, where scientific ideas are often pitted against unscientific ones, the issue of nurses didn’t have clearly defined sides. On the one hand, nurses filled an important role and needed specialized training in order to be effective; on the other hand, however, the scope of the pandemic made nurses crucial, and there weren’t enough of them to go around.
Themes
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