How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Hold there, Marks, hold there, I say," interjected the government clerk. His left eye blinked with a nervous twitch. "I've heard stories of a fever among the Santo Domingan refugees. They live close to Ball's Wharf, you know." (4.17)
News of the fever spreads quickly and the coffeehouse, as the center of public life, is one of the places that the epidemic gets discussed. Here, the blame for the outbreak is placed on the shoulders of the refugee community.
Quote #2
The market stalls stretched for three blocks in the center of the street. West Indian women stood by their pepperpot kettles stirring fragrant stews, while the hot corn girls walked up and down the street. The distant call of the charcoal man's horn sounded at the far end of the market. Chickens clucked and geese honked, customers argued about the price of pears, and children ran everywhere. (5.34)
From this description of the marketplace, we can gather that Philadelphia is a city of many cultures – a melting pot, if you will, where many have come to live. Because of its association with trade and its location as a port city (Philadelphia is on a river), the city would have been home to many people of various origins. The diversity of the city is depicted as giving life and vitality, hustle and bustle.
Quote #3
"Philadelphia suffers fevers every August," said Grandfather. "This season it's those cursed refugees. They brought it, just as the ships from Barbados brought it thirty years ago. The mayor should quarantine them on Hog Island for a few weeks and the fever would pass." He lifted his mug to King George. The parrot drank. (6.38)
Is Grandfather simply repeating what he has heard about fever among the refugees in the coffeehouse? The reference to King George, the parrot, suggests this might be the case. Notice how information spreads quickly, like disease.
Quote #4
"Don't be vile, Jeannine," snapped her mother. "Those filthy refugees and creatures who live in the crowded hovels by the river, they're always sick with something. But it is a gross injustice that my gala should suffer because the lower class falls ill. Don't you agree, Lucille?" (7.36)
The Ogilvies are also blaming the refugee community for the fever outbreak. While new entrants into Philadelphia did carry the disease, it was mosquitoes, not people, who were actually responsible for spreading it. Notice how Mrs. Ogilvie dehumanizes the foreign population, calling them "filthy."
Quote #5
"Where are you going?" I asked. "Grandfather and I could run any errand you need."
"Not this errand, you couldn't." Eliza reached for her pretty straw hat. "The Free African Society is having a meeting about the fever. It should prove a lively gathering. I'll return in time for supper." (8.20-8.21)
Unlike the refugee population, the Free African Society is a group that's more closely integrated and accepted in Philadelphia. The Society was an actual organization founded by the Reverend Richard Allen in the eighteenth century.
Quote #6
"You'll hear folks say that Dr. Rush is a hero for saving folks with his purges and blood letting. But I've seen different. It's these French doctors here that know how to cure the fever. I don't care if Dr. Rush did sign the Declaration of Independence. I wouldn't let him and his knives near me." (14.53)
While most people have embraced the cures of Dr. Rush, Mrs. Flagg and the French doctors at Bush Hill strongly disagree with his practices. What does the Declaration of Independence have to do with medical science? How does Dr. Rush's nationality and status as an American give him credit with others?
Quote #7
"A few weeks ago, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote to Reverend Allen asking for help."
"Reverend Allen from the Free African Society?"
"The same. The doctors thought us Africans couldn't get yellow fever. Rev. Allen said this was a chance for black people to show we are every bit as good and important and useful as white people. The Society organized folks to visit the sick, to care for them and bury them if they died." (22.53-22.55)
Dr. Rush thinks black people cannot be stricken with yellow fever. What role did the Free African Society play in the care of fever victims?
Quote #8
"After a few weeks of nursing the sick and burying the dead, our own people started to sicken. Black people can get sick with yellow fever just like white people or Indians. I do know some who have never been sick, but there are white people who can say the same thing." (22.62)
Eliza talks about the experience of learning that blacks can fall ill just like others can. How do you think this made her feel?
Quote #9
The sailors babbled in their own languages, afraid to die on the wrong side of the ocean in a world far away from people who knew their names. The vinegar-soaked cloth tied around my nose could not shield me from the stench of the dying men who baked in the old house. (24.5)
Again we – and Matilda – see that though people are of different cultures, death strikes them all.
Quote #10
"Think of it. Dr. Rush had seen two or three epidemics in his life. The French doctors came from the West Indies, where they treat yellow fever every year. Surely their experience is more valuable." (25.37)
Why does Eliza have a hard time being convinced to trust the treatments by the French doctors?