A cursory first reading of this story often leaves students confused. John Wideman’s innovative style involves multiple voices, some of which are not even identified, and randomly traveling both backwards and forwards in time. The grim narrative is prefaced as a tribute to the people (mostly free African-Americans) who heroically nursed the sick and buried the dead during the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793. The fever serves as a metaphor for the effects of the story’s main themes (prejudice and racism), which can potentially destroy both victims and perpetrators. Other themes: slavery, fear, suffering, death, despair.
A feature of the story is that it does not limit itself to white and black viewpoints. It emphasizes the broader nature of prejudice and racism, including its effects on slaves, the poor, Christians and Jews.
Readers unfamiliar with American history may feel that the importance of Philadelphia (referred to in the preface as being to the United States what the heart is to the human body) is overstated in the story. This is far from the truth. At that time, Philadelphia was the American capital. Among the high profile citizens who fled the city to escape the epidemic were George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.
The controversial Dr Rush was a real person. One of America’s most prominent doctors and a signatory to its Declaration of Independence, he stayed to fight the epidemic after many of the city’s other doctors fled. It is generally believed that the character “Allen” is also based on a real person: Richard Allen, a co-founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church who helped organize the free blacks to care for the sick and deal with the dead.
Original Text / PDF (10,450 words)