Year of Wonders Chapter 12 Quotes
Year of Wonders Chapter 12 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
"Mr. Mompellion, too, has come upon these talismans. It seems the madness is spreading as fast as the disease among us." (2.12.11)
One major side effect of this whole plague business is that the community goes insane. With their loved ones dying every day and no end in sight, the villagers turn to bizarre magical rituals to save themselves. It's basically mass psychosis.
Quote 2
Those of us who were left feared [...] the hidden contagion we each might carry. People scurried [...] without meeting another soul. (2.12.30)
The villagers' fear of the plague becomes so intense that they give up trying to keep the community together. At this point, they're all so emotionally broken that seeing each other only reminds them of everything they've lost. Eyam has become Bummerville.
Quote 3
Why, I wondered, did we [...] seek to put the Plague in unseen hands? Why should this thing be either a test of faith sent by God, or the evil workings of the Devil in the world? (2.12.23)
Anna's religious doubts grow as the plague worsens. Here, she questions the villagers' immediate assumption that the plague has been thrust upon them by some higher power. Why can't it just be seen as a natural phenomenon? By couching the plague in religion, the villagers are making themselves feel more helpless than they actually are.