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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Everything Is Tuberculosis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Injustice
History’s Influence on the Modern Day
Family and Community
Stigmatization and Dehumanization
Nuance, Empathy, and Understanding
Summary
Analysis
While infected coughs and spit were known to spread TB, it was also thought that things like library books, dust, and flies could be contaminated with TB and spread the disease to humans. Many of these manners of contamination are either untrue or insignificant, but society made great efforts to protect against them, showing just how fearful people were of catching the virus. The development of germ theory once again changed fashion etiquette, with beards and certain hemlines being thought to harbor germs. “Moral hygiene” was also thought to be important in preventing and recovering from TB.
Once again, scientific developments influenced social norms, with contemporary fashion being influenced by the new biomedical understanding of tuberculosis. It’s notable, however, that this scientific revelation did not stop society from attaching morality to TB; even when Koch discovered that TB was caused by bacteria and not inherited, society continued to stigmatize and villainize those suffering from the disease.
Themes
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, when anti-TB medication had yet to be invented, travel was often recommended; determining where to travel, however, depended on physicians and culture. This concept of providing TB patients with a designated place to heal developed into the sanatorium, a designated facility to provide care for TB patients and limit the spread of the disease. Santitoria generally believed that fresh air and rest would provide hope for patients, a vital element of TB treatment at the time, so patients were often forced into being immobile and docile to foster such hope. Though patients found ways to entertain themselves, they were often isolated and dehumanized and additionally told that if they didn’t obey, they would die. Many of these patients were children who were ruthlessly punished for expressing any discomfort or upset. These facilities prioritized control over care, dehumanizing and stigmatizing TB patients in the process.
Here, Green examines treatments for TB in the times before medication. Travel, a popular treatment for TB throughout history, is implicitly inaccessible, as one needed the monetary means to leave home for a significant span of time. The later solution of the sanitoria was still problematic, although it may have been slightly more accessible than travel. In sanitoria, patients were heavily stigmatized and dehumanized and, most often, wound up dying from the disease even if they complied with the rules. In general, treatment in the decades prior to the development of medication was inaccessible, harsh, and ultimately ineffective.
Themes
