“More than anything else, it is Anna’s courage and determination that results in her eventual emancipation’. Do you agree?”
The circular structure Novel “ Year of wonders” by Geraldine Brooks, details the events taking place at a small village called ‘Eyam’, through the eyes of the protagonist Anna Frith. Set in the 1600s, the town of Eyam (along with the rest of Europe) finds them self’s at the mercy of the devastating disease know as the bubonic plague. This relentless and unforgiving infection kills within days and spreads rapidly, making it near impossible to combat. In response, Eyam’s unofficial ‘leader‘ and rector, Mr. Mompellion, imposes a ‘voluntary’ quarantine on the village, which isolates them from the rest of the outside world, leaving …show more content…
Throughout the testing times brought by the plague, the bravery and willpower of the main character Anna Frith is constantly evident and is the main reason why she is able to survive the plague and eventually free her self from the past, with her new life in Oran. This is shown in the novel through Anna’s fortitude to over come her great challenges and fears and her constant endeavor to help others. However her loss in faith throughout the novel also plays a role in the development of her new life.
Through one of the most testing times of human history, a young and timid girl in Anna Frith responds by stepping up and growing strong. She had to face tasks, no ordinary women would be capable of, such as; laying her husbands body out for burial and dealing with the mangled remains of her father. And not to mention the countless amount of ‘death beads’ she attended. Further more we learn early learn of Anna’s fear of delivering babies and midwifing due to her mother due to a four-day labor. During this labor, a barber surgeon was called in and used a thatcher’s hook to pull the remains from Anna’s mother. With Anna’s father, Josiah, too