The Trauma of Loss in American Fiction about the Spanish Flu

Abstract

My thesis deals with the fictional representation of the Spanish Influenza pandemic in the US literature. After illustrating the impact of that pandemic on American culture, as provided by history books, I will take into account significant literary works centered on this theme, drawing on De Paolo’s 2014 book Pandemic Influenza in Fiction – A Critical Study. My thesis will be focused on three works: They Came Like Swallows (1937) by William Maxwell, “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” (1939) by Katherine Anne Porter and The Last Town on Earth (2006) by Thomas Mullen. The choice is not casual: They Came Like Swallows recounts the experience of a normal family. The omniscient 3rd person narrator chronicles the events through the eyes of Bunny and Robert, the children. What is more, Robert – the eldest son – represents a minority, as he is disabled due to an accident. So it will be interesting to elaborate on these aspects: children and disability during the pandemic. “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” is about a couple – a journalist and a soldier – who contract the flu. She survives, while the soldier does not. The short story not only is important for the depiction of the effects Spanish Flu had on the brain of the people who fell ill with it, but also because of how it perfectly represented the American society of 1918. As the protagonist and Porter herself are journalist, I will delve into how media covered the pandemic. The Last Town on Earth is the only novel taken here into examination that was not written by an author who personally experienced the Spanish Influenza – Maxwell and Porter, on the contrary, based their works on personal circumstances. There is no emotional involvement in his book, therefore Mullen’s is a distant perspective on the matter. The Last Town on Earth will then act as a comparison. I will begin the thesis by giving a brief historical context concerning the inception and spread of the pandemic in the United States and how Americans responded to it. Then I will move on to inspect They Came Like Swallows, “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and The Last Town on Earth, considering those aspects that De Paolo left out of his study.