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Chapter 15
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
Camp Devens was a military encampment 35 miles northwest of Boston. Since its establishment in September 1917, it had already suffered from measles and pneumonia, but it had a capable medical staff. When in 1918 several seeming cases of pneumonia suddenly broke out in the camp, some public health authorities worried that it might be the sign of an influenza epidemic.
Camp Devens ended up being one of the first sites of a major outbreak of the 1918 influenza virus. In many ways, the virus’s outbreak at Camp Devens encapsulated features of the virus that would remain true throughout the pandemic: its comparatively severe impact on young adults and its spread through transportation related to the war.
Themes
The epidemic soon exploded through the camp. The Red Cross sent help, but the nurses soon got sick themselves. The disease was so powerful that victims turned dark blue from lack of oxygen, fueling rumors that, in fact, the disease was the Black Death.
The comparisons to the Black Death help to illustrate the fear people felt during the pandemic, and they show how people looked to the past to try to understand their present situation.
Themes
Gorgas ordered Welch, Cole, Victor Vaughan, and Fredrick Russell to go to Devens. They were shocked by the devastation they saw, all caused by the virus. Welch concluded that it must be “some new kind of infection or plague.” He immediately called a prominent local pathologist, the Rockefeller Institute, and the acting army surgeon general, letting them know about the disease and about the desperate need for more hospital space in Nevens.
The fact that so many prominent scientists went to Devens together suggests that officials were finally beginning to wake up to the scope of the epidemic they were confronting. Even these experts, however, were shocked and confused by what they saw. The process of discovering what caused the influenza epidemic was in many ways a microcosm for what the scientific method looks like in action.
Themes
The army surgeon general began urging that men shouldn’t be transferred from camp to camp unless absolutely necessary (in order to quarantine the virus). The measure came too late, though: around the world, as far away as Bombay, lethal variants of the virus started to explode.
The refusal of people in authority to listen to experts until it’s too late was a common theme during the 1918 pandemic. Barry argues that it’s worthwhile to be more proactive in preparing against threats like the 1918 influenza pandemic—while authorities can’t predict the specifics, they can predict a general pattern based on past epidemics.
Themes
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