Two men guard the entrance to a village during a flu epidemic. A man approaches them. He is alone and obviously sick. The men are faced with a choice: offer shelter to the man and risk infection or shoot him to avoid infection.

This is basic moral dilemma in Thomas Mullen’s 2006 award-winning novel “The Last Town on Earth,” set during the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Students in Central Catholic High School’s honors biology classes studied Mullen’s novel in relation to viral diseases, such as the H1N1 “swine flu” virus.

“[My novel] was not intended to be a warning or foreshadowing of potential future pandemics. I’m not a biologist or virologist and I don’t want to misrepresent myself as one. I’m a storyteller, so I’m always looking for good stories,” Mullen said in an e-mail.

Central Catholic science teacher Marty Smith assigned “The Last Town on Earth” to his students in early April, before the swine flu outbreak.

“I happened to read it and thought it would be appropriate for my biology classes. So it was just a coincidence that this book connected so well,” Smith said.

For the students, the novel was a way to learn about science from a new perspective.

“It presents biology ideas together with moral issues. It teaches us how we can incorporate what we learn into our own lives,” said freshman Conor Wilkinson.

“It shows more realistically what could happen and how it actually affects people,” said freshman Brittany Smolka.

Students also drew parallels between the 1918 flu described in the book and the current swine flu.

While the swine flu epidemic has not quite reached the gravity of the book’s subject, there are similar features.

“I think that the fear and suspicion, the instinct for self-preservation, the potential for abuse and the sheer unpredictability when you combine an ill-understood virus with a confused and frightened population would likely crop up again in a new pandemic. Much has changed in the past 91 years, but human nature is remarkably consistent,” Mullen said.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Education.
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