Duality in novels and films about pandemics

Abstract

Both literature and films have been dealing with a disease outbreak for a long time. This paper will deal with the metaphorical aspect of viruses especially in the view of today’s pandemics. First, a brief overview of such novels and films will be given starting with Daniel Defoe and his A Journal of the Plague Year and films such as Twelve Monkeys, Contagion, Outbreak. The emphasis will not be on the virus itself but on its metaphorical meaning and the duality in novels and films – e.g. between good and evil, order and chaos. The paper will mostly focus on the novels The Stand by Stephen King, and the film Twelve Monkeys. The main idea which connects them all would be a virus as a metaphor, the end of humanity, and everlasting fight between good and evil.