Pandemic read: "The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London

Pandemic Read: 

"The Scarlet Plague" 

by Jack London

The rise of Covid-19 apparently led to an increase in appetite in post-apocalyptic and pandemic fiction.  It is not at all clear why some readers seek comfort or pleasure in reading about fictional catastrophes in the middle of a very real one, although I’ve found an interesting article that hazards some guesses.    In my case, I think that what led me to seek some post-apocalyptic fiction was an attempt to build a fictional barrier between me as a reader and what the world is going through right now.  Rather contradictorily, I felt that the ability of contemplating absolutely “worst-case scenarios” through fiction made me better prepared to face the daily barrage of pandemic news.  

And so it was that I came across Jack London’s early post-apocalyptic novella The Scarlet Plague. Originally published in 1912, this work is set in 2073, sixty years after a deadly epidemic ravaged the world.   James Smith, an erstwhile literature professor and one of the few survivors of the disease, lives in a wild, rural area close to what was once San Francisco.  After the collapse of society because of the plague, those who escaped the disease reverted to tribalism.  For their subsistence, they rely on hunting and fishing.  At the start of the story we meet Smith accompanied by his three grandchildren. He wistfully reminisces about better times, continually bemoaning the fact that the new generations have lost the learning of the past, regressing so far that they are unable to string together sentences in “proper” English.   At the children’s insistence, Smith, whom they call “Granser” with a mixture of affection and scorn, recounts the horrors of the epidemic and the early days of the new world order. 

I must say that the intial parts of the novella did not particularly impress me.  Before he gets going with the core of the story, London needs to give us some background, hence the initial chapters emphasizing the contrast between the old “cultured” man and the young uneducated “savages”.  To be honest, however, I found their bickering rather tiresome.  Also, as is wont to happen with old “futuristic” novels, the author’s imagining of the “developed world” of 2013 is, with hindsight, quite off the mark, with a description of a future that is more or less like 1912 with extra perks. 

An illustration from the reprint of the novella in the February 1949 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries 

It is when we get to the story of the pandemic proper that the novella comes into its own.  Here London gives his imagination free rein, and the descriptions of the rapid spread of the disease provoke spine-tingling horror.  So does his portrayal of a society in collapse.  In the context of a disaster, normal rules of humanity break down and the class inequalities inherent in an unfair and unjust societies merely exacerbate the regression into chaos.   

I’m no doctor and will not comment about the scientific “explanations” given in the context of the story.  However, this article published by three Italian medical professionals in a scientific journal actually analyses the novella in the context of the medical knowledge available at the time of its writing – apparently London was quite up to date as far as the ‘scientific’ aspects are concerned.  

Although I wouldn't classify it as one of London's best or more typical works, The Scarlet Plague is worth exploring, not least for its historical interest.  Unfortunately, also provides a timely pandemic read.  A free version can be downloaded from the Gutenberg Project website.