Pandemics Fear and Anxiety: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, Amir Tag Elsir’s Ebola 76 and COVID-19
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes.v25i1.586Keywords:
Amir Tag Elsir, anxiety, COVID-19, Ebola, Edgar Allan Poe, horrorAbstract
This study examines the archetypal stages of human responses to fear and anxiety during pandemics and epidemics in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” Amir Tag Elsir’s Ebola 76, and COVID-19. Pandemics and epidemics elicit a range of psychosocial response mechanisms in individuals due to innate and unmanageable feelings of fear and uncertainty. In the face of chaotic circumstances, the human collective psyche exhibits contagious horrors that are both random and overwhelming. However, these reactions follow historically patterned prototypical stages that significantly disrupt human ontological existence's apparent peace, harmony, and rhythm. The manifestation of this division became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during periods of confinement, when the fear of the virus gradually infiltrated even the smallest aspects of social life. Notably, the selected narratives accurately depict the various stages of human responses to pandemics. The stages are represented in Poe’s story as disapprobation, surprise, horror, and disgust, and in Elsir’s novel as shock, denial, acceptance, and hope. These phases unveil a comprehensive and emotional engagement with the human experience of pandemics and epidemics, offering a descriptive and anticipatory portrayal of the imminent social, psychological, and cultural calamities when the COVID-19 pandemic began to unpredictably ravage the world.
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Accepted 2024-05-30
Published 2024-06-23
