When I began to see and read the posts about Covid-19, I believed, just as most of us reasoned, that this virus was not something to become panicked about, as an overwhelming amount of sickness and mass death couldn’t be the cause of a virus that was being compared to having a cold.
The beginning of spring break was when I started to consider that this virus could turn into something more serious, but I still wasn’t willing to face the truth. I gave some nonchalant dispute over lunch when I was warned that this virus could become dangerous, even becoming upset when I was told to hold off on some plans I made for the following weekend.
It might seem that I was in denial (which I was), but I think the feeling of confusion and frustration is a sign of inexperienced circumstances, as I am well aware I am not the sole person feeling disappointed from the outcome of this pandemic. Within the span of hours, we continue to receive news about the spread of Covid-19, urging us to limit groups and social distance as the number of deaths continue to rise.
Except people aren’t listening, and neither is our president, going so far to spread fake news, when even officials are not positive themselves about this virus. While we are continuing to take steps in the right direction, I am still seeing news articles of thousands continuing with their spring break plans, ignoring the pleas to social distance and quarantine.
When I first read “Inventory” by Carmen Maria Machado, I didn’t give a significant amount of thought, but last night I decided to give it another read. What I failed to realize before is that the young narrator is selfish, ignorant and naive, focusing on her wants rather than on what is happening around her. This characterization is how I would like to describe those who are disregarding the advice of the officials. This isn’t going to become better if some of us listen, and some of us don’t.
Then, there are people who are listening…a little too much. Hoarding hand sanitizer, toilet paper, wipes, not even taking into consideration others who need these supplies as well.
The day I woke up and the air had changed, I realized it had been a long time coming. She was sitting on the couch. She got up in the night and made some tea. But the cup was tipped and the puddle was cold, and I recognized the symptoms from the television and newspapers, and then the leaflets, and then the radio broadcasts, and then the hushed voices around the bonfire. Her skin was the dark purple of compounded bruises, the whites of her eyes shot through with red, and blood leaking from the misty beds of her fingernails. There was no time to mourn. I checked my own face in the mirror, and my eyes were still clear. I consulted my emergency list and its supplies. I took my bag and tent and I got into the dinghy and I rowed to the island, to this island, where I have been stashing food since I got to the cottage.
While the limitations and constraints of different countries and states might seem like something out of the fantastic, I more see it as a precaution to protect the virus from spreading. I want to focus more on what our media has to offer towards this pandemic, thus being the fantastic element in this “fiction.” With multiple sources manipulating what we understand about this virus, we pursue these fallacies, which has been the ultimate cause of ignorance, thus being the origin of this pandemic.
You raise an interesting point about the parallels between the selfishness of the narrator in “Inventory” and the selfishness of people in real life as the coronavirus continues to spread; I used to think that if anything like the coronavirus were to happen, most people would choose to come together, sharing resources and aiding one another where it was needed–not battling it out for supplies and jeopardizing everyone else’s safety in order to keep living their lives as usual. It’s interesting (and frightening) to think about other “unrealistic” ways in which people will continue to respond to the pandemic.
I like how you brought up the fact people are being selfish about the coronavirus in comparison to “Inventory.” My friend still went down to Florida for spring break, even though he was told not to. I saw a news article this morning blaming selfishness on the “millennial” when I think it is a much bigger picture than that. I, too, was in denial and got mad about having to cancel my plans to isolate for the virus; a virus that was only described as a common cold with a fever! I believe that the denial the younger generation face is not “denial” in itself, but more-so the feeling of being invincible. I mean this by, COVID-19 being described as a common cold, most of us have had the flu or much worse, so we believe that we can handle it or we think it isn’t that bad because we don’t take the time to sympathize for the lives lost. We are selfish in the sense that we put ourselves, invincibility, in account that the virus is not something to worry about and it making us cancel our plans seems like inconvenience.
I think that invincibility is the correct word to use here. We haven’t seen a lot of cases with younger generations but that doesn’t mean we don’t carry it. It is a huge inconvenience to cancel plans but we think that because we live in a world that is constantly moving with tasks, lists, to-dos, and daily responsibilities, we don’t really know ourselves without our schedules.
Thanks so much for this post, Kayley. The echoes of Machado’s “Inventory” are, sadly, undeniable. My take on the narrator’s behavior in that story, though, is that she isn’t selfish; she is merely being human — desiring company, intimacy, while also hoping to survive. I suspect the increasing level of isolation we will experience will lead us down this same path.