Which do you think was more gripping to read? His account of the plague or his stories?”
Boccaccio was an extremely talented writer. Everything he wrote about was fascinating and enthralling. Most of his works still hold up today and is extremely well written. Their is never a dull moment for the reader. While reading his account of the Black Death, its easy to spend a lot of time soaking up what was said. Boccaccio was also known as a storyteller. He wrote fascinating tales . Much of what was written was extremely interesting and gave insight into a dark time in human history. When the Black Plague started to spread it spread quickly. Because Europe at the time was so pack together, disease ran rampant. As others have pointed out, the disease had a 95% kill rate, making in virtually unstoppable or survivable. To hear his accounts make it all the more interesting.
As stated previously in the paragraph above, the Black death violently went through Europe . This almost killed everyone, however due to staying inside their house, people began isolating themselves from the sick. Those who could afford it moved out of their homes and into the undeveloped countryside. However, those less fortunate had to stay where tey were, in the middle of it. After the plague had begun, much of the working class was knocked out. This caused major shortages, and slowing down of the economy. Family’s were torn apart. Mothers left children, and Husbands left wives. They Nuclear was being plit apart by a raging virus. Political unrest took place, and people were stressed. Although looking at their circumstance, I am sure anyone would be. Roughly 200 million people died. Readers can understand very quickly the mental toll this would have on a person. To see your neighbor rot away into nothing would be so scarring, it would leave many people depressed. This causes a lot of appreciation from the reader to Boccio as he was able to stay strong and willing and tell his story. Something like this makes it all the more interesting.
However, the stories he wrote about were just as important. One of his first stories discussed God. He discussed that God can always see through lie, but he also listens to prayers. Essentially the story tells of a crook who becomes sick. He takes his Catholic Rite before he dies. He claims to be a holy man who loves God. The Church belives him, and prays for him, and even declairs him a saint. Even though this isn’t the Case. God knows who this man truly it, however, he also listen to the prayers of the people, and understands that they want the man to go to heaven and live happy. This story really makes the reader think. Will the crook recieve salvation because of the prayers, or will he not because he lied and led a sinful life. This makes the reader think. What will happen. How will this man experince his concinus for the rest of his life, happy or suffering.
Boccio is what seperates a good writer from a great writer. His work are enthralling and exciting to read. It also gives a
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