In 1793 a fever infected Philadelphia that killed 10% of its population. The book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is a historical fiction from a young girl named Matilda’s perspective. The book is about her experience dealing with the Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. She learned many lessons and one of them was that fear can control you. Some of the reasons fear can control you is how it can make you leave what you know, it can make you turn on people, and it can make you vulnerable. One of the ways fear can control you is the way it can make you leave what you know. When the fever broke out most of the people of Philadelphia were very scared, so they packed up what needed and left their home. They were so scared of getting sick they left their homes, shops, and everything they had become familiar with. This is also shown when Mattie and Grandfather left to go to the Ludingtons. Neither of them had much experience with rural living, but Grandfather and Mrs. Cook where afraid of Mattie getting sick. So the two of them left the city to a farm. As you can see in this book people would rather face new things than their fears. …show more content…
One time you can see this happen was when Grandfather and Mattie where going to the Ludingtons and the people on the side of the road wouldn’t let them into their town. In fact they even said, “We have been authorized by the town council to keep fever victims out.” They had been told to be there by the town council, who should have really been helping the people. Also people were so scared of getting sick that they left their sick family and friends to keep themselves safe. Not much can make family leave each other, but fear is something that can. These reasons show how fear can make you think only of