Societal struggle: – Familial care and love – Role of the government – non existent and helpless or omniscient/present/potent ? – Victimization – accidental ? Fear and panic: – Fear of an unknown disease or affliction. – Brevity and fragility of human life

Dramatic Irony: – “…[the illness] looked like severe pneumonia.” the readers are aware that it is something more sinister. – Incorrectly referring to the illness as “very rare”. Emphasis and heightened significance: – The word “—infection!—” is isolated, italicized and has an exclamation mark, showing both structural and thematic importance. Catalogue of descriptive words: – “They were… suffering from high fevers, headaches, coughs, vomiting, chills and chest pains.”

Descriptions of the government and military are harsh and strong: – “Guns, steel and industry…” Alliteration: “…Stark five story apartment buildings, shops and schools.” “…Coughs, vomiting, chills and chest pains.” Frequent pace changes: new paragraphs are often started with abrupt and negative points.

Use of contrasting descriptions: – “streets lined with small wooden cottages …were broken up by stark five-story apartment buildings, shops and schools.” Imagery: – “…hundreds of men worked in shifts in a cavernous building …with large, high windows.” – “[doctors] white gown” – symbolic of cleanliness and hope Statistics and impersonal address to contrast emotion: – “Compound 19” and hotel “No. 24”.

Emotional disorganization vs. political/civil rigidity: – Hotels are referred to as “No. 20” and “No. 24”, which seems strict and regimented, which contrasts with the emotional feelings generated in the extract. – “she tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to one ill patient” - a very emotional and selfless action.

Death from “deadly pathogens” – Panic inducing and deeply horrific. Fear of something that cannot be seen. – “There was panic when people saw them [disinfection workers]” – deep irony Brevity and fragility of human life: – “Death came quickly to victims” Impending doom and inexorable fate: – “Soon, patients began to die at Ilyenko’s hospital, too” – Use of the word “too” shows that the death and illness is compounding and increasing, where it was once “rare”