Fever – Week 1

Alright dear readers, we are about to embark upon a new journey. This one is going to take us to the city of New York, and the case of the person known as Typhoid Mary. I have enjoyed reading this book, and I am hoping that it will be one that you will find enjoyable as well! The weather is turning colder here, which is perfect weather for curling up with a book and passing a quiet afternoon, (or what passes as quiet when you have boys in the house). Let’s dive into her story!

Mary was a skilled cook, and one that was sought after. She did her job well, and was pleasant to be around. Sometimes the people who lived in the houses she cooked for got sick, sometimes they didn’t. Some died, some survived. When she was accused of being a carrier for typhoid she laughed it off. She has never been sick a day in her life, how could she carry the sickness that she was accused of having?

When she is arrested at one of the homes where she is employed, she is hauled off and put into a hospital where tests are run on her constantly. The doctors on the health board are convinced she is a carrier, they are just unsure of how exactly she is spreading the disease. Mary refuses to let them take out her gallbladder. The opinion of the day is that this is where the bacteria is found, and they believe that they can “cure”her, by performing surgery. She steadfastly refuses to allow them to operate on her. To punish her obstinate, she is sent to North Brother, which is a quarantine facility. There she is kept, and a small house built her for, where she can live away from the other patients. But she refuses to give up hope of leaving the island, and returning home to Alfred. She finally finds a lawyer to take her case, and its a case that he believes that they can win. But as the date for the trial looms closer, her confidence begins to plummet, and the thoughts that she will never escape the island  begin to persist more.

This week we are reading Chapters 1-6

Questions:

1. Do you think she should have abandoned her cooking earlier, when she was suspected of making people sick?
2. Did the doctors violate the law when they seized her without running any tests first?
3. Was the hospital right to isolate her from the other patients?