The Black Death Barbara Tuchman’s essay “This Is the End of the World”: The Black Death, describes the mid- fourteenth century plague that devastated Europe and Asia. The plague started when trading ships came from the Black Sea to Sicily with the dead and dying men at the oars. The symptoms of the Black Death include boils, black spots on the skin from hemorrhaging internally, swelling and severe pain. From the time of exposure to the plague, most succumbed in one to five days. Hopelessness and despondency immediately followed the symptoms. Before the end, “death is seen seated on the face”.
No warnings were sounded about the Black Death due to the ignorance of the people. It was estimated that about 23 million people lost their lives due to the plague. The plague took about a third of Europe and almost wiped out India. The people in the area affected by the Black Death responded with a wide range of behaviors. Some danced to drums and trumpets, thinking that by doing so they would be spared from the plague. Some with fearing and mourning, would lock themselves in their homes. Some parents abandoned their children and left them to die.
The Black Death affected all social classes. No one was immune to it. By the nature of their profession, doctors and clergy were affected immensely by the plague, unless they secluded themselves from all the sick people. The death toll was far worse on the poor because of under nourishment and frailty. The rich would shut themselves off from everyone and had the means to take care of themselves. Women appeared to be more vulnerable than the men perhaps because more of them were